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i
GAZETTEE R
OF
UPPER BURMA
AND THE
SHAN STATES.
IN FIVE VOLUMES.
COMPILED FROM OFFICIAL PAPERS BY
J. GEORGE SCOTT,
BARRISTER-AT-LAW, C.I.E^" M.R.A.S., F.R.G.S., "
ASSISTED BY
]. P. HARDIMAN. I.C.S.
PART I.-VOL. I. :::
RANGOON!
PRINTED BV THB SUPERINTENDENT, GOVERNMENT PRINTING, &URMA.
1900.
•V
[ PART I, VOLS. I d 11,-PRICE : Rs. 12-0-0 =Aftt.^
110580
ILLUSTRATIONS.
PART I: VOLUME I.
The Salwcen at Ta Hs.-ing 1^ — Frontispiece.
King Thibaw and Supayalat {Photo. Sftssrs. Watt ond Sketn) ,
Sattbvia of Loi Ldng Tawnjj Peng and wives . . . . ,
Tlie Salween at Mong Hawm ferry
The UyotauH o( Mand.il.iy in C^ourt dress {Photo. Signor Beato and
Company)
Shar Sawbvia in Court dress {Photo. StgiKr Etaio t nd Company) .
A Wa bridije, side view
A Wa bridge, end view
A Shan trader {Photo. .Messrs. Watts and Skeen) . , . .
Kachins {Photo. Messrs. Watts and Sheen)
Siyin Chiefs {Chin GoBetteer)
Wa headmen in Pet Ken
AUha women . , ,
Karen-ni women {Photo. Captain W. N, Campbell)
Rumai or Palaung wroman {Photo. Signor Beato and Company)
Mftng or Miaotzu men and women . , ,
Shoulder bags or wallets
Paqs.
PART I: VOLUME IL -;:-
Map a{ Upper Burma and Shan Stain— Frontispieeg. •"-';";■
XVII. Trans-Salween Sax^bvia and wife in full dress . •,.^* '.,.'
Cliarms of invulnerability ..... ".Vf .. ^••.
KVIW. Tingpan Vao V.'.t; .V^;
XIX. Siyin mode of coiflure (Chin Gatetteer) , -C*. *I:«1
XX. Vimbao Karen men (Photo. Captain W. M Cantpf'eli): ''4 ■
XXL Karen Military policeman and recruit {Photo. Caft,.tn Wttf
bell] . ■
Plan of Mandalay Palace and buiUlings ....
XXIL Vimbao Karen women {Photo. Captain W. N, Campbtll) .
XXIU. Chin women's pipes {Chin GaMttteer)
XXIV. Kachin women iPkoto. Signor Beato and Company) .' \ ,
XXV. Sawku Karen girl {Photo. Captain W. N. Campbell) -•;•'
XXVI. Shan women of Num Hkam in Shan-Chineie dress {Pkiie.
Beato and Company) .■.•-,.
XXVI 1. Chjnbik women {Photo. Signor Beato and Company) :';\
XXVin. Wa in full dress (Kig. i). Group of Wa girls (Fig. 3) -'''z
XXIX. Akhamen
Instruments used >n spinning and weaving , ,
CatKp~
( 2 )
PL4TB. Page.
Cotton garments made in Shan States 370
XXX. Kachins {Photo. Signer Beato and Company) 390
Representative pottery of Lower Burma 400
Papun pottery ib.
Fancy pottery of Pyinmana 401
Toys of Shwebo ib.
XXXI. Ming or .Miaotzu men 413
XXXll. Knn I^ng ferry iniSpi ' . 45a
XXXUI. A Wa dance 469
XXXIV. A Yenangyaung oil well (Photo. Messrs. Watts and Skeen) . . 514
XXXV. A Kachin house (Photo. Messrs. Watts and Skun) .... 528
XXXVi. Hui Hui or Panihes 540
XXXVII. A Shan ^awtoo in open durbar ....... 553
TABLE OF CONTENTS.
PART I: VOLUME !.
Chaptir I.— Physical Geography i
Chaitir II.— History.— The rdgns of King Minddn and King Thibaw from
Burmese sources 29
Cbaptw III.— Histort.— The causes which led to the Third Burmese War
and the Annexation of Upper Burma 97
Cbaptbr IV.— The firstlyear after the Annexation 117
Cbaptir V. — Final pacification 147
Cbaftbr VI.— The Shan States and the Tai 187
Cbattbr VII.— The Kachin Hills and the Chingpaw 331
Craftir VIII.— The Chin Hills and the Chin Tnbea 441
Cbaptir IX.— Ethnology with Vocabularies 475
ERRATA.
VOLUME I.
Page 3, line 17, for 'west' rtad "east.'
4 '7. M 2o, „ 'about' „ 'above/
" 43* >• 9* deh'hy.'
» *^ » 34. /or 'choragos' read 'choragus.*
» 7ft f. 6, „ 'Bayingyan' „ 'Bayingan/
». 8». » 2. „ 'lead' „ 'led/
f* 83, „ a8, „ * Governor ' „ ' Convenor/
H 85, „ 2$, &/#• again/
M 86( „ 33, /or 'Nammada' r«ad 'Nammadaw/
n 87, „ 3, „ ' Nammada ' „ ' Nammadaw.'
" SA >• 5 from bottom, for ' were * reorf ' was.'
" 107» M I4i /or ' Bomby ' read ' Bombay/
» 109. „ II and 13 from bottom, insert ' to/
n \ii» „ I, /or 'enquires' rvflt/' enquiries/
•* "I. .. S» .. *i895' „ '1885.*
,1 126» » 10, 9t. seq. for 'Myinthfe' read ' Myinthi/
w '33. M 2| for ' Yetagyo * reai/ * Yesagyo/
» 133, „ 14, ti ' Sameikkyon ' „ ' SameikkAn/
>• i59. M ». M 'was' „ 'were'
M 185, „ 3, read ' Chinese ' Shan States.
„ 188, „ 9 from bottom, /fff ' 1895 '.raorf ' »835.'
„ 194. « 9 » » 'is* .. 'were/
..203, „ 15, /or ' Bein-kawngi * rwrf ' Bein Kawng/
„ 207, „ 11 from bottom, for 'as' read 'as is/
„ 209, in the Mandarin dialect the names are more properly—
5A«, the rat ; A^im, theox; /^«, the tiger ; Tu, the hare; Lung, the
dragon; She, the snake; Afa, the horse; Yang, theeoat; tiou.iha
monkey ; CAi, the cock ; Ch'iian, the dog; Chu, the pig.
„ 225, line 13 from bottom, for ' Hke ' read ' Hk&/
,,239, „ 9, t^e/tf first 'him.'
„ 229, „ '4 from bottom, /or 'get* read 'got.'
» 242, „ 3, „ „ ' Emperer * „ ' Emperor.'
M 25s, „ 18, for 'L6ng' read ' Ldng/
„ 270, „ 21, „ 'found' „ * lormed/
,,284, „ 15 and 18, /or 'flank' read 'plank/
>. 308, .» S. » 'rules* „ 'rulers/
» 3»4. » »3» » ' Mong Si' „ ' M6ng Sit.'
>i 329, « 9 and 23, „ ' Htamfing ' „ * Htamflng/
,. 340, „ 33, ,. ' 1888 • „ ' 1889/
H 367. M 9» » 'stamped' „ 'stampeded/
m 39Si IW line^ » ' peope * „ ' people.'
( » )
Page 408, line 35, dtU ' a.*
M 430. n 33»for 'calaxrutitea'read 'calamities.'
» 475. » 18. « • professer ' „ ' professor/
» 4^1 » 3 from bottom, /or 'sides' read 'side.'
». 499* » 8, /or ' billard * reotf 'billiard.'
„ 500, „ 16, „ 'warder' „ 'wander.*
» 505f » "» » * trough-like,, ' trough, like.'
I) 544* 1. 3 fro™ bottom, /or ' Yawng-tung' read 'Sawng-tiJng.'
*i 57f . » I4» Z*"" * peluMve, read ' delusive.'
m 586> n i<> from bottom, /or 'occassion' r«a^ ' occasion.'
n 59<S» *. 9» /<"' * 3t Lxjti ' read ' a Lot^'
M 597i >i 3 fro™ bottom, /or 'the' read 'that.'
.* 6ao. „ a „ M 'whatveer' r«ad 'whatever.
THE
UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER.
CHAPTER I.
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
Thk northern and north-eastern boundaries of Upper Burma
have not yet been finally demarcated. In f^eneral terms it may be
said that Upper Burma lies between the 2oih and 27(h parallels of
north latitude and between the 92nd and looth parallels' of east
longitude. The greatest distance from east to west is about 500
miles ; from north to south about 450 miles. The area of the Upper
Province is estimated at 83,473 square miles and that of the Shan
States, Northern and Southern, at a little over 40,000 square miles.
On the north the boundaries are : the dependent State of Manipur,
the Naga and Chin^paw hills, and the Chinese province of Yunnan ;
on the east the Chinese province of Yunnan, the Chinese Shan
States, the French province of Indo-China, and the Siamese Tai (or
Lao) States ; on the south Lower Burma ; and on the west Arakan
and Chittagong.
Within these boundaries, but administered as semi-dependent
States, are the Northern and Southern Shan States, described
separately ; the Sta'e of Mong Mit (Momeik) with its dependency,
Mong Lang (Mohlaing), under the supervision of the Commissioner,
Mandalav Division j the State of Hkamti Lung^, which with the
Kachin Hills north of the confluence of the upper branches of the
Irrawaddy is only indirectly under administration; the States of
Hsawng Hsup {Thaungthut) and Singkalins: Hkamtt (Zinglein
Kanti) in the Upper Chindwin district ; and the Chin Hills under a
Political Officer.
Upper Burma is portioned out into natural divisions by its more
important rivers. The Irrawaddy rises beyond its confines in the
unexplored regions where India, Tibet, and China meet and runs due
southwards, dividing Upper Burma roughly into two equal parts,
east and west. After completing about two-thirds of its course
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTKER. [ CHAP. I.
through the upper province, it is joined from the west by the Chind-
win, the largest and most imporlani of its tributaries, which flows
into it a few miles above the town of PakOkku. The Chindwin
may be said to divide the northern portion of Upper Burma west of
the Irrawaddy into two halves. South of the fork the country,
which is for the most part dry and sandy, stretches away from the
western bank of the Irrawaddy to the easlem slopes of the Arakan
Yomas and the Southern Chin Hills. This tract comprises the dis-
tricts of Minbu and Pakokku. From the junction of the Irrawaddy
and Chindwin northwards the nature of the country lo the west of
the latter river changes completely. From the right bank of the
Chindwin the Chin Hills rise abruptly to merge themselves with the
Lushai and Naga Hills in the wide tract of mountainous countryi
which forms the whole of the north-western frontier of the Province.
On the left bank of the Chindwin the land is comparatively level and
stretches for the most part over low ranges of hills to the Irrawaddy
valley, but farther north these ranges increase in height, until the
whole tract between the two rivers becomes a mass of hill country
intersected by mountain streams and inhabited by semi-barbarous
communities, whose country extends acToss the main stream of the
Irrawaddy to the eastern border of the Bhamo district and as far
down on the eastern side of the river as the State of Mong Mit
(Momelk), where it joins the northern extremity of the Shan Hills.
The country to the east of the Irrawaddy immediately above the
frontier of the lower province corresponds very closely with that on
the west of the river in the same latitude. It comprises the districts
of the Mciktila division and the Magwe district of the Minbu division.
It is comparatively dry and arid, is intersected by forest-clad ridges,
and is bounded on the east by the rampart of the Shan plateau, which
runs almost parallel to the Irrawaddy till about the level of the town
of Mandalay. Here the bend of the river brings it close to the Shan
Hills, and from this point northwards the space between the stream
and the hills becomes gradually narrower and more confined.
Upper Burma is encircled on three sides by a wall of mountain
. ranges. The Shan and Karen Hills which run h
ountains. parallel ridges fur the most part almost duenorth^
and south form the eastern boundary. In the Mandalay district the
Shan Hills approach the Irrawaddy. The hilly parts of this district,
which form the greater portion of its area, may be divided into two
tracts, the northern and the eastern. Ihe northern consists of
parallel ridges descending from the Ruby Mines district, with
peaks of from 2,000 to 3,600 feet ; the eastern consists of the
Pyinulwin subdivision and forms a plateau of 3,500 feet above
mean sea-level. Both of these tracts geographically form part of
'•]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY,
the high-Jands known as the great Shan plateau, as does the
Ruby Mines district, which, with ihe CNception of the riverain
portion, is intersected by high ranges of hills with points here and
there of over 7,000 feet in height. In the west of this district the
hill ranges run north and south, but in the interior their course is
approximately east and west. In the Bhamo and Myitkyina dis-
tricts there are four main ranges of hills, the Eastern fCachin Hills
running northward from the State of Mong Mil (Momeik) to join
the plateau which divides the bjisins of the Irrawaddy and the Sal-
ween ; the ICum6n range extending from the llkamti L6ng country
east of Assam to a point north of Mogaung ; the Kaukkwc hills,
which start from Mogaung and run in a southerly direction to the
plains in the west of the Irrawaddy valley, and the Jade Mines
tract lying to the west of (ho Upper Mogaung stream and extend-
ing across the watershed of the Uyu river as far as the Hukawng
valley. The Chin Hills form the western boundary of the Upper
Province, as do the Kachin, Shan, and Karon Hills on the west.
These Chin Hills form a continuation of the Naga Hills which con-
stitute the eastern boundary of Assam, and southwards they are
known as the Arakan Yoma. The Pegu Yoma rises in the uplands
of Kyauks^ and Meiktila districts and, running parallel to the Shan
Hills, divides the basin of the Irrawaddy from that of the Sittang.
The Paunglaung range rises in the highlands of the Shan plateau
and divides the basin of the Sittang from that of the Salween. This
range, unlike the Pegu Yoma, which is insignificant, ranging between
800 and I J 200 feet, has peaks of considerable height, one at least
reaching nearly 8,000 feet. This range sinks down into the plain of
Thaton. The easternmost range, which divides the basin of the
Salween from the Mfekhong, also runs north and south and In its
southerly portion divides British territory from the neighbouring
kingdom of Siam and farther south still forms the ridge of the Malay
Peninsula. In the extreme north all these ranges take their origin,
or lose themselves, in the Tibetan plateau.
Burma may therefore be divided conveniently, but with no great
precision, into, first. Northern Burma, including the Chin and Kachin
Hills with a thin and miscellaneous alien population ; second, Burma
Proper, which is practically the valley of the Irrawaddy after it ceases
to be a gorge ; and, third, the Shan tributary States. Burma Proper
is practically one great plain ; the hills are comparatively mere
undulations, and the one considerable peak, P6ppa, is volcanic. Still
it is very different from the vast levels that stretch from the base
of the Himalayas. It is rather a rolling upland interspersed with
alluvial basins and sudden ridges of hills. The other two divisions
are described separately below.
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. I.
Rivers.
Irra-waddy, — Of the rivers by far ihe most important is the Irra-
waddy, for long the only great highway of the
country. It is described at some length in the
British Burma Gasetteer of 1880, as far as it was then known, that
is to sav, to the third or upper defile. Since then much has been
learnt, out there is still considerable uncertainty as 10 the true source
of the Irrawaddy, and the adventurous journey of Prince Henri
d'Orleans is merely tantalizing in so far that it proves practically
notiiing, except that the conjectures of Britisli ofTuers were right in
a particular spot and may therefore be correct throughout. But the
actual sources are as uncertaFn as ever. The Irrawaddy is formed by
the confluence of two rivers, the Mali and the 'Nmai (the kha which
is usually added to these is simply the Kachin word for river and is
better omitted, because it leads to such tautologies as the Mali kha
river). They join about latitude 25° 45' at a distance by land from
Bhamo of about 150 miles. Up to this point the river is navigable
in the rains for steamers, though the Manst rapid just below Lapfe,
the Tangp^ rapid immediately below the confluence, and the third
defile, offer constant difficulties. For over 900 miles, however, as
far as Bhamo, the river is navigable throughout the year.
In Kachin Mali X7/fl means big river, and the Burmese call it
Myit-gyi. The eastern branch, the 'Nmai kka, means bad river,
and the Burmese call it Myit-ngt:, the small river. But, from the
data given below, it would appear that the Mali or \vesicrn branch
has really the smaller volume of water, and that the 'Nmai river is the
true Upper Irrawaddy. The native opinion is merely the familiar
oriental theory that a navigable river is a big river, and that
along which boats cannot ply a small one. The Mali can be navi-
gated by country bnats all the year round as far as Sawan, whereas
m consequence of the rapids, impracticable even for dug-outs, the
'Nmai cannot be navigated at any time. The Mali river ts now
approximately all known — its tributaries, the villages and marches
along its banks — and it is indisputably the same as the Nam Kiu
(the Shan name for the Irrawaddy) surveyed by the late General
Woodthorpe in his trip to the Hkamti country in 1884-85,
There is an absence of all accurate information about the 'Nmai
river. It has been mapped as far as 'Nsentaru, where the channel
makes a sudden turn to the west after flowing from the north.
Above 'Nsentaru the general direction of the 'Nmai as it comes
down from the north is known, but the river itself is shortly lost
behind high mountains, and as to the course north of this no trust-
worthy information is to be had. "Nobody goes there" is the
extent of native information, and the mountains seem to be as wild
and unengaging as the inhabitants. Captain L. E. Eliott says:
CHAP. I.]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
" There does not appear to be any trade at all, and the 'Nmai kha
" north of 'Nsentaru probably degenerates into a furions mountain
" torrent, dashing through profound gorges and quite impracticable
" even for rafts of the lightest kind." There appears not even to be
a track along its banks.
The old idea was that the river bifurcated some way farther up
and that one of its branches flowed from the Naungsa lake lying to
the east. This was the version given by the native explorer Alaga,
who was sent up in ihu year 1880 to endeavour to determine the
sources of the Irrawaddy. He, however, only got a very few days
inland in the country between the two rivers and was then turned
back by the Kachins. It is significant that no Chinaman or
Kachin seems ever to have seen or even heard of this lake, and the
march of Prince Henri d'Orleans, corroborated by the researches
lower down. of Lieutenant Pottinger, finally disprove the existence of
any lake, or, at any rate, of any considerable lake. Considerable
doubt seems now also to be thrown on the assumption that the 'Nmai
had its source farther north than the Mali and drained a country with
a heavier snowfall. In support of this theory Lieutenant A. Blewitt
of the King's Royal Rifles instanced the fact that at the confluence
the water of the 'Nmai is 6 degrees colder than that of the Mali.
This, however, may well be due, as it is in iheSalween, lo the narrow-
ness of the valley through which the 'Nmai flows, which prevents
the sun from shining on the river for more than a few hours daily.
Lieutenant Blewitt took the following measurements of depths and
velocities at the confluence in January 1891 : —
The Irrawaddy main river in a straight reach of water about
3 miles below Mawkan rapid. Breadth of actual water, 4.20 yards.
Eight soundings taken in as straight a line as the boatmen can
manage — ■
r
1
13ft
■44'
3
3
64°
4
5
6
7
8
Soundings in feet
Angles to position
41**
a6|
74^"
3U
79''
^7k
77"
II
76*
From the above it was evident that either the boat had not kept
a straight course, or that the angles were incorrectly taken, since
the last three are an impossibility. The angles were unfortunately
taken by a native surveyor with a prismatic compass instead of a
plane-table. The current at the right bank was practically nii and
became gradually swifter towards the left bank. The rate of the
whole was little under 2 miles an hour. The sectional area of the
river-bed was roughly 20,160 square feet.
6 THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. I.
Measurements of the ' Nmai kba or Myit-nge^ the eastern branch of the
Irrawaddyt taken about i mile above the confluence.
Breadth of water ... ... 165 yards.
Temperature ... ... ... 56°
Pace of current ... ... 3J miles an hour.
Sectional area of river-bed ... 6,600 square feet.
Estimated volume ... ■•• 32,257 cubic feet per second.
Six soundings in a straight line were in feet —
First.
Second.
Third.
Fourth.
Fifth.
Sixth.
6i
lU
15
i8i
19
Hi
True data were very difficult to get owing to the swiftness of the
current under the left bank. The last sounding of 14 feet was
taken close under the bank.
Measurements of the Mali kha, or Myit-gyt\ the western branch of the
Irraviaddy, taken about i mile above the confluence.
Breadth of water ... ... 150 yards.
Temperature ... ... 61"
Pace of current ... ... 3} miles an hour.
Sectional area of river-bed ... 4,000 square feet.
Estimated volume ... ... 23,108 cubic feet per second.
Five soundings in a straight line were in feet —
First. 1 Second.
Third.
Fourth
Fifth.
3
5i
10
17
Hi
Lieutenant Blewitt thinks the rate of the current may have been
a little over-estimated in both cases, and the difficulty in keeping
the rope taut naturally was against accuracy. Nevertheless, the
figures seem to prove that the 'Nmai river is the larger of the two.
The two volumes taken together give a total of 55,000 cubic feet
per second at the confluence, and the late Sir Henry Yule, in his
introduction to Captain Gill's River of Golden Sand, gives the esti-
mated volume of the Irrawaddy at Amarapura as 35,000 cubic feet
per second. From what measurements this was deduced is not
stated, nor is the time of year given, so that a comparison of the
two sets of figures is impossible. The natives of Hkamti L6ng refer
to two rivers east of their country called the Nam Tisan and the
Phungmai, The Nam Tisan is described as three days' journey
from the Hkamti country, from which it is separated by the Tchet
Pum, and five days' more marching to the east brings the traveller
CHAP. I,]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY,
to the Noikon range, from which silver Is extracted, and to the east
of it flows the Nam Dumai or Phun^mai. The Hkamti Shans are
said to call this expressly the eastern branch of the Irrawaddy, and
the general similarity of the names Dumai, Phungmai, and 'Nmai, as
used by Shans, Khunnongs, and Kachins, tend to show the identity.
The depth given by the TlkamtJ Shans would also correspond with
the probable depth of the 'Nmai river in that latitude. They de-
scribe it as not deep, but not fordable. or somewhat deeperthan the
Mall kha about the same latitude, which was ascertained by Wood-
thorpe to be 5 feet. Besides this, as Captain Eliott continues, the
distance from the Hkamti country east to the Phungmai, about 45
miles in a straight line, would approximately correspond vvitli where
the 'Nmai kha valley must be, for the river cannot come farther
from the east, since the position of the Lu kiang^ or Salween, is
known In the latitude of^ B6nga, and also lower down between
Bhamo and Tali-fu. The Hkamti Shans said there were two more
big rivers to be crossed before reaching China, and these would be
the Lu kiang^ or Salween, and the Lan Ts'an kiattg, or M6-
khong. No doubt can remain now that the Lu kiang is identi-
cal with the Salween. Yule states that the chief ground for dis-
crediting the length of course ascrit^ed to the Salween and its
Tibetan origin is its comparatively small body of water, and adds
that this may be due to its restricted basin, which is certainly no
longer a disputable fact. As far as is known, all the water up to
witnin a few miles of the actual Salween falls into the Irrawaddy
drainage. It Is the vast drainage of the latter river, combining the
Mali kha, 'Nmai kha, and ChJndwin areas, that makes it develope
so rapidly into a noble river, at^d the same reasoning will tend to
make us look not very far for the sources of the river. It is now
nearly certain that the 'Nmai river, or main stream of the Irrawaddy
has its source not higher than 28° 30'. Yule calls the east branch
of the Irrawaddy in the Introductory essay above referred to the
Tchitom, Scheie, Ku-ts'kiang, and Khiu-shi Ho. These will pro*
bably prove to be the local Tibetan and Chinese names for the
'Nmaiof the Kachins, or for the streams which unite to form it. It is
at any rate definitely settled that the Irrawaddy has no connection
with the Sanpu, either by anastomosis, or in any more obvious way.
Prince Henri d'Orleans' account of his journey rrom Tonkin to India
may be quoted here, since he says it is " by the sources of the
Irrawaddy." His journey commands admiration for his courage,
his endurance, and the high spirits which he maintained throughout,
but his account of it, both in his lecture before the Royal Geogra-
phical Society and in From Tonkin to India, is most irritating in
Its inconclusiyeness. It is characteristic of the Prince to beirrltat-
8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. I.
ing in the most varied way. It is impossible to determine from his
narrative what can be considered as the main stream of the Irra-
waddy, and it may be permitted to doubt whether the Prince brmed
any idea of the kind himself. What is certain is that he confirms
the information and the conjectures of British explorers, that a
number of considerable streams early join together and form two
great rivers, destined to become the Irrawaddy lower down. But
which of these streams is the main branch cannot be ascertMned
from the Prince's book. All that is certain is that the 'Nmai and
all its affluents are savage torrents, while the Mali early becomes
what may more justly be called a river.
The following items are pieced together from the Prince's book, —
** A range with a pass of 3,600 mdlres ( 1 1 ,8 1 2 feet) rose between the
" Salween and an affluent to the right of it." which seemsto be the
Pula Haw, though it is not expressly so stated. This was a little
south of latitude 28^ "The two following days were employed in
" surmounting a crest of 10,725 feet • • • When we exchanged
"this vegetation (thick bamboo brake) it was for barer heights,
" among which often gleamed little grey, blue lochs (any one of which
"may have been the Naung Sa;, a scenery not unlike some parts of
" the Pyrenees. • • * In the bottom of the valley we sighted
'* the Kiu-kiang, running over a shingle-bed, blue as the Aar
"The inhabitants were of a gentle limid race, Kiu-tses, so named
" from the Kiu kiang, though they styled themselves Turong orTu-
"long and the river Tulong-Remai." The Prince crossed the river
[whose 'name the Kiu kiang may be compared with the Ku-ts
kiang and the Khiu-shi ho (kiang and ho both meaning river)
as well as with the Nam Kiu, the Shan name for the Irrawaddy]
over a bamboo bridge made for him by the Turongs, " The
'* river at this point was about 50 yards broad, with traces of a
" rise of 40 feet in flood. This valley of the Kiu kiang, which
"we had now been threading for several days, wllh many more to
" follow (Ironi iollrt0 3oth October), gave an Impression of greater
"size than that of iheM^khong, since, though narrow at the bottom,
" it was bounded by mountains of receding gradients, each with its
" own forest species, from palms below to ilex and rhododendrons
" above." The march seems to have been much what it is along
the Salween in the Shan States ; stretches along the bank with
more shingle and bare rock than sand ; climbs up sleep banks
to avoid gorges; descents to torrent affluents — the Tatei, Madu-
madon, Geling, and Tukiu-mu are mentioned, mostly spanned by
liana bridges, which do not exist on the Salween aflluents — with
camps alternaieiy on small beaches and steep hillsides. The Prince
marched 45 miles in the 20 days between leaving and returning to
CHAP. i.
I'HYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
the Kiu kiang, which when he finally marched west "was a broad
" sheet of water, swift but noiseless and wonderfully clear. On the
" 30th October we reached at nightfall another confluence of two
" torrents. One was the Lublu, the other was the Neydu, or Telo
'* — the great river of which we had heard so much, its silent tide
"and tranquil depth. • * 'It was a wretched disap-
" pointment. Instead of level fields, hills and impenetrable forest as
" before ; instead of houses, crags as savage as any in the valley of
" the Kiu kiang,*. • • • We had attained one of the
'* principal feeders of the Irrawaddy. Like the Kiu kiang, it did not
"come from far, but it brought a considerable body of water, and it
" is the great number of these large tributaries that accounts for a
" river of the size of the Irrawaddy in Burma. * • • j^e
" Dublu crossed (it was 32 yards wide), we proceeded up the
" left bank of the big river * • • transferred ourselves to the
" other (right) side of the river on rudely improvised bamboo rafts ;
" the water was quiet, deep, and of a grey-blue colour. For the
" two succeeding days we climbed a steep and rugged track,
"catching sight through openings in the woods of an amphitheatre
"of snow-covered mountains. In the west a high white range run-
" ning north-east and south-west was identified by us as the Alps
" of Dzayul (Zayul, the land of the earthen pots), on the other
'* side of which lies the basin of the Upper Brahmaputra in Tibet."
Much of the travelling was in actual torrent-beds, a form of high-
way familiar to most travellers who have crossed the Salween in
the Shan Slates and most destructive 16 boot-leather. Thus they
climbed over into the basin of the Mali kha. Various cols are
mentioned with no heights given. The highest pass between the
Salween and the Hkamti L6ng valley was 3,600 mHres (11,812
feet). The first tributary of the Mali kha, or Nam Kiu, reached
was the Reunnam. " We forded a broad and shallow river, the
"Reunnam ; and it was hard to believe ourselves at the base of
" the lofty mountain chains of Tibet." After this " a diversified
" woodland march ended for the day in a real village. Five houses,
"each 90 feet long, placed parallel to one another, testified, with the
" barking of dogs and grunting of pigs, to an approach of compara-
"tive civilization. On the loth November we debouched upon a
"fine sandy beach, ideal camping-ground, by the shores of a con-
" siderable river, the Nam Tsam. The stream was 40 yards in width
" and expanded into a small lake at the foot of a sounding cataract."
The Reunnam seems ro join the Nam Tsam about 27** 15' and the
united streams apparently enter the Nam Kiu or Mali in about lati-
tude 27°. The Nam Tsam was crossed by a fish-dam, erected by
Kiu-tses (Turongs). " Mountain rice culture began to be visible
to
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. I.
" in clearings of the woods, and felled trees laid horizontally here and
*' there assisted the path • • *. As we drew near to habitations,
"averting emblems reappeared, and we noticed a fenced elliptical
tomb." This seems to indicate that the Turongs are Chingpaw,
or at least closely allied to the Kachins, and indeed the photo-
graph which the Prince gives of a Kiu-tse might be taken for a
Kachin both with regard to features, method of wearing the hair,
dress, and, above all, the linkin dha. After crossing a number of
streams, the Pandam, the Nam Lian, the Nam^Chow, all appa-
rently easily fordable, and staying for a night at Melekeu, "com-
posed of pile-houses sometimes 130 feet long, not unlike the Moi
dwellings in Annam,'* the Prince at last enlere<i the level plain of
Hkamti Long, which the Lissus or Lesus call Apnn (apparently
their name for theShans generally, which recalls the Manipuri name
of the kingdom of Pong) and the Kiu-tses and Lutses and other
Turongs call Moam. " A wide expanse of apparent inundation,
"enveloping lagoons of land, but what to our eyes seemed swamps,
"were no doubt paddy-ficlds. The Nam Kiu.or Meli-remai of the
" Kiu-tses, the western branch of the Irrawaddy * • was about
" 160 yards in width and 12 feet deep; water clear and sluggish.
" We crossed without delay in five or six pirogues."
Here the Prince had reached country known through the jour-
neys of the late General Woodthorpe and Mr. Errol Grey. His
journey shows that the sources of tne Irrawaddy certainly do not
lie farther north than latitude 28° 30' ; that the Mali kha or Nam
Kiu is more of a river and 'that the 'Nmai kha is more of a torrent
and in its upper courses is frayed out into a mass of streams very
much like a chowrie or a cow's tail. Unhappily, however, we still
do not know which is the greater stream. Probably the Mall river
will come to be looked upon as the main river, because it is both
navigable and accessible. There is an analogy for the smaller stream
usurping the name in the Red River, the Songkoi of Tongking,
which at Hung Hwa, where the Black River joins it, is the lesser
of the two.
Tributaries of the Irra'waddy. — Below the confluence the most
important tributaries of the Irrawaddy are the Nam Kawng or
Mogaung river, the Moife, and the Taping. The first flows in on
the right bank and, with its affluent, the Indaw river, is navigable
for small steamers, during the rainSj for some distance from its mouth.
The other two are left bank affluents and are unnavigable to any
distance. Farther south the Shweli, or Nam Mao, flows in from
the Shan States and China and the M6za comes in on the right
bank. At Amarapura the Mylt-ngfe or Nam Tu comes in from the
Northern Shan Sutes, but is not navigable for any great distance.
CHAP. I.]
PHySlCAI. GEOCRAPHV.
II
Below this at Myinmu the Mu river comes in on the right bank.
The main tributary, the Chindwin, with its affluents, the Uyu, the
Yu, and the Myittha, joins the Irrawaddy some little distance above
the town of Fakokku. It is navigable as far as Homalin near the
mouth of the Uyu at all times of the year. The only other tributary
of any note is the M6n, which joins on the right bank about 12
miles above the station of Minbu.
Sittang. — The Sittang river rises in the hills on the fringe of the
Shan plateau, runs into the Meiktila division, and does not attain
any size until it reaches the Lower Province. In its upper course
it is known as the Paunglaung.
Saiween. — The Salween is probably unequalled for wild and mag-
nificent scenery by any river in the world, but it is, for the present,
unnavigated except in broken reaches above the Thaung Yin rapids
in the Lower Province. It is probably an actually longer river than
the Irrawaddy, but it is characteristic, not only tor the narrowness
of its valley, which is little more than a ditch with banks varying in
British territory from 3,000 to 6,000 feet high, but also for the limited
width of the area which it drains. Unlilit reaches Lower Burma the
basin does not anywhere reach two parallels of longitude in breadth.
So far as is known, it receives no affluent northofTCokang, which is
longer than a mountain torrent, rising in the ranges on either side
which form its water-shed, cramped between the Irrawaddy and the
Mfckhong.
Yet, or rather because of this restriction of its basin, it is repre-
sented on old maps as rising far up in the Tibetan steppes to the
north-west of Lhassa ; and since it is now certain that the Salween,
the Nam Kong of the Shans, is the Lu jkiang of China and Tibet,
there is no reason to believe that these maps are wrong. In his intro-
duction to Gill's /^iver of Golden Sand, Yule says : "Every one who
" has looked at a map of Asia with his eyes open must nave been
"struck by the remarkable aspect of the country between Assam
" and Chinaj as represented, where a number of great rivers rush
" southward in parallel courses, within a very narrow span of longi-
" tude, their dehneation on the map recalling the /asc is of thunder-
" bolts in the clutch of Jove, or (let us say, less poetically) the
" aggregation of parallel railway lines at Clapham junction." Of
these rivers — the Brahmaputra, the Irrawaddy, the Salween, the
M^khong, the Yang-tze, the Hwang Ho, besides their numerous
considerable early feeders — the Salween yields to none in the extreme
northerly position of its source ; and its size, in latitudes where it is
so crushed in that it can have no tributaries larger than hill streams
a mile or two in length, seems to prove that these old maps arc
correct.
u
THE UPPER BURMA GAZKTTliKR. [CHAP. I.
These Jesuit maps call it Nou Kian (Lu kiano\ and it is the Lu-ts*
kiang of Bishop desMazurcs. "The French Missionaries who
"were for some years stationed near the \.yi kian^^ about latitude
" 28^ 20', speak of it as a great river. Abbo Durand, June 1863,
" describing a society of heretical Lamas, who had invited his in-
*' structions» and who were willing to consign the paraphernalia of
" their worship to the waters, writes: ' What will become of it all ?
'* ' The great river, whose waves roll to Martaban, is not more than
*' * two hundred or three hundred paces distant.' ... A river so
" spoken of in latituide 28' 20' or thereabouts may easily have come
*' from a remote Tibetan source. It is hard to say more as yet, amid
" the uncertainties of the geography of Tibetan sf^ppes, and the
" difficulty of discerning between the tributaries of this river and
" that of the next ; but the Lu kiang, or a main branch of it, under
" the name of Suk-chu, appears to be crossed by a bridge on the
" high road between Ssu-Ch'wan and Lhassa, four stations west of
" Tsiamdo on the Lan Ts'ang (the Mtikhong.)" The iron suspen-
sion bridge in about latitude 25° N. on the road from Bhamo to
Tali has been often described by travellers. It is in two spans of
altogether 600 feet in length. One span over the main channel is
270 feet wide ; the other over a portion of the bed exposed in the
dry season is 330 feet wide. Colborne Baber thus described it :
" The floor of this valley lies at the surprisingly low level of 2,670 feet
" above the sea. The river is some 340 feet lower, running between
'* steep banks of a regular slope much resembling a huge railway
" cutting. It sweeps down a short rapid under the bridge ; but farther
"down it was evidently of considerable depth, by no means swift,
" with a breadth of 90 yards or more, and navigable for boats of large
" size ; but not a punt or shallop was to be seen." This character
it preserves till it reaches Lower Burma. Here and there the hills
are lower, in a few places there are even some acres of flat land, but
almost the whole way it preserves this appearance of a mammoth
railway cutting. Prince Henri d'Orleans visited and marched along
the Salween for a short distance about latitude 26° and again about
latitude 28*^. At the former spot, west of Fey-Iong-klao, and almost
due west of Tali " we dropped down into the Salween basin between^
"wooded hills that sheltered rare hamlets * • • the gradients
*' of the sides being less steep than those of the Mckhong. The
"Cheloung kiang [this " nine dragons' stream " is the name given
" near Ta-ya-keo in Mong Lem to the M^khong], the Lu kiang, or
" Salween, as it is variously called, flows at its base in an average
"breadth of 120 yards. Its waters are easily distinguished from
" those of the Lan-tsang X-mw^, for, while the latter are reddish brown,
" the Salween's are a dirty grey. At the point where we struck it
CHAP. I.]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
<3
" the current seemed less rapid than the Mfekhong ; the lemptTature
" of the water was 66^ Kahr. The level of the SaUveen is only
" 3.087 feet, or 1,625 lower than the Mfekhon^. Without admitting
"a shallower depth than is the case, it Isdifncult to believe that so
*' great a body of water can issue from so short a course as that
" indicated by the latest English map of Tibet, published in 1894.
" The impression we derived was of a large river coming from far."
When a short distance farther north the Prince marched back to the
Mfekhong, "coming so recently from the Salween, it seemed small,
" and its valley more confined and less green than the latter."
From Tsekou in latitude a8^ Prince Henri aeain crossed the
Mfekhong- Salween watershed. The pass was hign, 3,800 meifes
(12,467 feet). The descent was through bamboo and high grass
jungle. " We ferried over in skiffs about 16 feet long, hollowed out
" of trunks of trees. From two to four men manoeuvred them
"with small oars ; the crossing was an easy matter compared with
" that of the Mekhong at Halo ; there Avere no real rapids here, and
" counter-currents could be taken advantage of; the temperature of
" the water was much the same as that of the Mfekhong at the same
" height, being 60^^ Fahr. ; but a neighbouring tributary from the
" mountains registered nearly 6" higher. »
" On the right bank we received a messenger from the Lamaserai
" of Tchamou-tong, distant now only a few miles, who announced
•' that the superior had under him 76 Lamas (Red-hats). On the
" 23rd and 24th September we continued down ihe Salween by a good
" road. As is the case lower, the valley is greener tlian that of the
" Mfekhong, with flora almost approaching that of warm counlries.
" The trees were literally decked with tufts of orchids, whose yellow
"and brown-spotted blooms hung in odoriferous clusters/'
From the Salween over to the Irrawaddy the road proved to
be impracticable for mules. " We did not mount, we did not descend,
" we simply gave ourselves over to gymnastics." The Salween has
evidently as troublesome banks there as in parts of ihe Northern
and Southern Shan States, where picturesque descriptive language
is also employed.
The Salween enters British territory in the Shan State of North
Hsenwi, runs through the Shan States north and south, and emerges
from Karenni into Lower Burma. It varies very greatly in breadth.
Where it enters Kokang it is about 80 yards wide ; at the Kun
Long ferry it is about 200 feet, but its lowest width is below
the mouth of the Thaungyin, where it measures no more than 30
yards. The main tributaries on the left bank are the Nam Hkaand
the Nam Hsim, both considerable streams, navigable locally for
14
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTIiER. [CHAP. I.
countr)' boats, and both rising in British territory. The Nam
Ting rising in Chinese territory and joining the Salween some miles
below the Kun Long ferry, where it forms the island which gives
the ferry its name, is considerably smaller, as is the Nam Ma of the
Wa country. On the right bank the chit-f affluents are the Nam
Pang (Bin chnung) and the Nam Teng (Tein chaung), both rising
in the Northern Shan States, flowing parallel to and at no great
distance from one another and the Salween, and entering it in the
Southern Shan Stales ; the Nam Pang in Keng Hkam ; and the Nam
Teng in Mawk Mai. Both are navigable locally in reaches for native
boats. Farther south the Nam Pawn with its tributaries, the anas-
tomosing Nam Pilu and the Nam Tu (or Tu c/iautig), joins the
Salween where Karenni and Lower Burma meet.
The Mtrkhong, called tht Lan Ts'an iiaug in its upper reaches
by the Chinese, forms the boundary between the Shan States and
the French province of Indo-China for a distance of between 50
and roo miles. It hardly therefore calls for detailed description
in an Upper Burma Gazetteer. It may, however, be said that,
like the Salween, it rises far north in Tibet and rivals even the
Yang-lze in length. The town of Tsiamdo, capital of the province
of Khary, which stands between the two main branches that form
the Mekhong, in about latitude 30** 45', was visited by Hue and
Gabet on their return under arrest from Lhassa ; but, as Yule says,
"whatever ^MOji-geographical i>articulars Hue gives seem to have
" been taken, after the manner of travellers of his sort, from the
'* Chinese itineraries published in Klaproth's Description dti Tubet,*'
Kiepert in his map of 1864 calmly implied that he did not believe
Hue. Bishop desMazures and Abbe Desgodins, who followed the
course of the Lan-ts'ang at no great distance, visited Tsiamdo in
1866 (they call it Tcha-Mouto), and thus the Mekhong may be said
to be known to this point. In the same latltLidc?; it is about the
same si;!e as the Salween, but soon after leaving China its basin
opens out and there are fairU- extensive plains on its banks in many
parts both of Keng Hung ((Theli) and Keng Tong, and it is far from
being so picturesque a river as the Salween. As a navigable stream
it is neither better nor worse than the Salween, but French pluck
and enterprise have done much more for it than has been attempted
on the British river. It cannot, however, be called a water-way for
commerce. Its chief tributaries in British territory are the Nam
Lwi, which rises in the Chinese prefecture of Ch^npien and forms
for a great portion of its course the boundary between Chinese and
British territory and the Nam Hkok which rises in KengTOng State
and enters the Mfekhong not far below Chieng Hsen in Siamese
territory. The Nam Hok (M^ Huak in Siamese), which is con-
JHAP. I.]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
siderably smaller than either of these, forms the boundary between
Siamese and British territory and joins the Mtkhong some miles
above Chiengbsen.
The largest lake in Upper Burma is the Indawgyi in the Myit-
Lakes kyina district. It measures i6 miles by 6 and is
bordered on the south-cast and west by two low
ranges of hills, and has one outlet in the north-east, which forms
the Indaw river discharging into the Nam Kawng or Mogaung river.
Tradition says that this lake was formed by an earthquake and
submerged a Shan town. The Iiidaw in the Kalha district is also
a natural lake, and covers 60 square miles. The Meiktila lake and
the Aungpinle lake near Mandalay are artificial reser\'oirs. The
Indein lawe, near Yawng Hwe in the Southern Shan States, is the
last of the lakes which no doubt in prehistoric times filled all the
Shan valleys. It is nearly as large as the Indawgyi, but has greatly
diminished in size within comparatively recent times. The lake or
lakes at Mong Nai have shrunk to comparatively insignificant pro-
portions, though the southern lake is much deeper than that at
Yawng Hwe. Such other lakes as exist in various parts are chiefly
marshes formed after the fall of the floods and they are usually
wholly or partially dried up in the hot season. The only other lake
worthy of special notice is Nawng Hkeo, which is situated on the
top of a hill, some miles north of Mong Hkain the heart of the Wa
States. It is surrounded by heavy jungles, is said to be very deep,
and to have no fish in it. It forms the subject of a number of
traditions and wild beliefs among the Wa and the Shans, and, as is
pointed out elsewhere, may be the Chiamay lake of seventeenth
century wxiters.
Immediately above the frontier between Upper and Lower Burma
begins the dry zone which extends from the aoth to the 22nd
degrees of latitude and includes roughly speaking the whole of
the Minbu and Meiktila divisions. Here the country rises from
the Irrawaddy in long slopes and rolling ridges. The vegetation
rapidly loses its rich tropical character and the uplands are merely
dotted with sparse and stunted trees and bushes, which led to the
old idea that the country was a mere " despohlado (uninhabited
waste) of dry rolling hills dotted with thin bushes and euphorbias."
But the uplands sink at pretty regular intervals into decided valleys,
running at right angles to the Irrawaddy and the Sittang, into which
they discharge the drainage of the interior by broad, shallow, sandy
channels, always dry, except immediately after heavj' rain. North
of Pagan this upland still exists, but it is less elevated and less bare
and barren and is separated from the river by a greater or less
i6
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP, I.
extent of fruitful soil. The idea formed of the country varies
greatly according to the time of year at which it is seen, before or
after the rainy season. The same general character is reproduced
on the right bank of the Irrawaddy, but extending over a much
more restricted area. In the dry zone the annual rainfall averages
as low as 20 or 30 inches only. North of this dry belt there is a
much more marked rainy season and the annual rainfall seems to
average about 70 or 80 inches. The temperature varies as much
as the rainfall. Except in the dense forest tracts and the remoter
portions of some of the outlying districts, where malarial fever is
prevalent, the Upper Province is by no means unhealthy either for
the natives of the country or for Europeans.
The districts which have the smallest rainfall are Kyaiiksfe, 23*7
inches ; Pakokku, 23* 18 inches; Myingyan 23"9 inches ; and Minbu
24'134 inches, which is the average over a period of five years.
Those with the highest are Ruby Mines, 8388 inches ; Upper
Chindwin, 73587 inches; Bhamo, 7o'io6 inches ; and Kalha 4697
inches over the same period. These are all mountainous or sub-
Alpine districts.
The Chin Hills were not declared an integral part of Burma
Th cv Hil ""^'^ '^^^' ^"* ^^^y "**^ ^^^"^ ^ scheduled district.
The following account of their general features is
condensed from the Gazetteer of Messrs. Carey and Tuck and from
the reports of Intelligence Officers, — The Chin Hills lie between
latitude 24" and 21° 45' and longitude 93° 20' and 94° 5'. They
thus form a parallelogram about 250 miles long and from 100 to
1 50 and miles broad. There are no plains or table-lands, nothing but
a series of ridges separated by deep valleys. The approach irom
the Myiuha valluy is by rugged steep spurs covered with dense
jungle and divided by deep narrow ravines. These hills are sparsely
if at all inhabited and lead up to the first ridge, which runs parallel
to the Myittha river and about 50 miles west of it, with an ave-
rage height of about 7,000 feet above sea-level. Beyond this lie
range upon range of almost bare hills, their sides dotted with villages
and scored with terraced fields, which have taken the place of the
thin virgin forest. The main ranges run generally north and south
and vary in height from ^,000 .to 9,000 feet. The most important
is the Letha or Tang, which is the watershed between the Chindwin
and the Manipur rivers ; the Imbukklang, which forms the divide
for the waters of Upper Burma and Arakan; and the Rongklang,
which occupies the same position for the southern hills, discharging
on one side into the Myittha and on the other into the Boinu. The
highest peak appears to be the Liklang some 70 miles south of Haka,
CHAP. I.]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
'7
which rises to nearly 10,000 feet. Others are Lunglen, the western
point of the Chin Manipur boundary, 6,531 feel; Katong, 7,837
feet, on the same frontier; Noakuvum, 8,500 feet; and Kul, 8,860
feet, which is known as Kennedy Peak. In the southern hills the
chief are Rumklao, 8,231 ; Rongklang, 8,000 feet ; Boipa, 8,Soo;
and many others ranging about 8,000 feet.
There are several rivers of fair size. The Manipur river issues
from the Lontak lake, flows aln^ost due south from Shuganu to
Molbein, where it curves to the east, passes below Falam, and
enters the Myittha a mile below Sihaung. The Boinu rises in the
Yahow country, flows south and then west, and eventually south
again into Arakan, where it enters the sea under the name of the
Kuladan. Its affluent, the Tyao, issues from a lake north of
Tattun. The Tuivai is the largest tributary of the Barak river in
Assam, All these rivers are fordable, except the Manipur river,
which can seldom be crossed below Kwaiiglui, and never before the
month of February even as far north as Tunzan.
The climate of the Chin Hills judged at an altitude of between
2^500 and 6,500 feet is temperate. In the shade and off the ground
the thermometer rarely rises about 80° or falls below 25^ Fahr. In the
hot season and in the sun as much as 150'^ Fahr. is registered and on
ihe grass in the cold weather 10 degrees of frost are not uncommon.
During the first five years of iheir occupation snow has only been
seen once in the Chin Hills, on the Tang or Letha range, in 1893,
and it only lay for two days. The Chins speak of it as happening
only occasionally. In June the rains commence definitely and last
till about the middle of November. During the rest of the year
there are occasional showers, but no prolonged rain. Registration
shows that the rainfall varies considerably in different parts of the
hills, and at Kennedy Peak, Fort White, the Imbukklang, and Haka,
where there is heavy forest, the rainfall is greater than at Tiddim,
Dimlo, and Falam. where pine trees are found and the undergrowth
is neither thick nor rank. At Haka and Fort White the rainfall
is very similar and is heavier than at any of our other posts. The
rainfall registered at Haka was 1 1 ro3 inches in 1893 and 92*26
inches in 1894. and at Fort White ii was estimated at the same. Ap-
proximately one-third less fell at Falam and one-half at Tiddim.
Owing to the great number of tribes, sub-tribes, and clans of the
Tu tf »,■ ijti Kachins, the part of the Kachin Hills which
The Kachin Hills. , , ' ,^ , j • • ^ ^- • ..
has been taken under administration m the
Bhamo and Myitkyina districts has been divided into 40 tracts.
Beyond these tracts there are many Kachins in Kaiha, Mong Mit,
and the Northern Shan States, but though they are often the pre-
ponderating, they are not the exclusive population, and they are
i8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER, [CHAP. I.
comparatively recent settlers. The country within these 40 tracts
may be considered the Kachin Hills proper and it h'es between 23**
30' and 26*^ 30' north latitude and 96"^ and 98° east longitude.
The area of the country thus enclosed may be roughly estimated
at 19177 square miles, and it consists of a series of ranges, for
the most part running north and south, and intersected here and
there by valleys, all leading tnwards the Irrawaddy, which drains
the country. The Irrawaddy is navigable for steamers as far as
Myitkyina, 73 miles above Senbo ; beyond this, as has been noted
above, two difficult rapids prevent their passage, except in the
height of the floods. Myitkyina was the most northerly point to
which Burmese jurisdiction extended, and beyond this the whole
country remains Kachin.
From Senbo to Myitkyina the country may be briefly described
as a well-watered plam, with an occasional isolated low hill rising out
of jungle more or less dense. The Shans and Burmese-Shans who
used to cultivate it were driven away by Kachin raids and are only
now beginning to return. The land is very fertile and is capable of
supporting a very large population. From Myitkyina to the con-
fluence the country becomes gradually wilder and the jungle more
dense. Above the confluence of the Mali and 'Nmai kha the appear-
ance of the country changes entirely. No more flat ground is met
with, and as far as Hkamti Long there stretches a mass of low hills,
formed into valleys by high parallel ranges of mountains bearing
generally north-north-east and south-south-west. Lieut. Blewitl,
who accompanied Captain L. E. Eliott on an expedition to the
reaches of the Irrawaddy, says : —
" Our march was practically along one of these ranges, not more than
3,000 to 4,000 feet high, and varying from 3 to 4 miles west of t)ie Mali
kha. It was not a continuous range, being intersected by deep gorges,
through which flow the diflerent tributaries of the Mali kha. This range
apparently terminated at Pumluni Hum, and, standing on this peak at a
height of 3,500 feet above sea level, the general appf^arance of thecoualry,
turning to the different points of the compass, is as follows : —
'' Due north as far as one could see, thp hills were all of lower elevation,
looking west was a large valley 30 or 40 miles across, backed by a high
range of hills, the continuation of the Shwedaung-gyi and called the Kam6n
taung. The average height of this range througboul, judging from a dis-
tance, appeared to be from 5,000 to 6,000 feet, and in it, .ilmost due west
of Pamtum Pum, was a noticerfble break or gap, through which is perhaps
the road to the Hnkawng valley, but unfortunately we could not get this
confirmed.
"Turning to the east, looking across the Mali .(y&d, the space between
it and the 'Ntnai kha was Filleil with high bills, and beyond these again rose
high parallel ranges, eventually ending in snow-peaks in the far north-north-
east The valley to the west, the low hilts to the north, and the spat
CHAP. I.]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
>9
betwocnthc two branches of the Irrawaddy were, for Kachin-hnd, densely
populatcci, and it may be said lo be the heart of the Kachin country."
vStill further to the north, between latitudes 2^'' and 28" or 28''
30' lies the Hkamti Long country, which has as its eastern neigh-
bour the land of the Khunnongs, which extends to the watershed
between the eastern branch of the Irrawaddy and the Salween.
Farther east than longitude 98*^ and farther north than latitude 28^*
the country is unexplored, except for the passage of Prince Henri
d'Orleans, which was very dashing, but none the less disappoint-
ing as far as information is concerned. The Hkamti I-6ng country
is practically the valley of the Nam Kiu (the Shan name for the
Irrawaddy generally, but here meaning the Mali river). To the east
and north of this rise hills, increasing in height as Mr. Errol Grey
says :■ —
''Successive ranges uf forcst-clad hills, spreading out like the lingers of
the op^n hand to the south and converging to the north until massed in the
high snows of the Tibetan ranges, which arm, stretching southwards and
covered deep with snow, limited the vision to the east."
This snow-clad range would appear to be the watershed between
the eastern branch of the Irrawaddy, the 'Nniai, locally called
Tamai, and the Salween. The whole of fhe country west of this is
drained by the Nam Kiu, or Mali, the western branch of the Irra-
waddy, and its chief tributary, the N;im Tisan, or Nam Tesang,
which joins it on the left bank. Both the Nam Kiu and the Nam
Tisan run from north-west to south-east, and the latter takes its rise
in a range rising to about 1 1,000 feet above sea-level. This range
connects the ridge which separates the 'Nmai (or Tamai) from
the Tisan with that which divides the Nam Tisan from the Nam
Kiu, or Mali i'ha, and is situated in latitude 27^ 50'. The average
height of these ranges is from 5,000 to 7,000 feet. The snow water
which swells the Irrawaddy in the early months of the year must
therefore come down the 'Nmai kka. East of 97^ 45 the hills
abound in iron, which is worked by the Khunnongs. They used also
to mine silver, but are said latterly to have given it up.
The country to the immediate north and north-east of Bhamo,
that is to say, between the 'Nmai river on the north and the Taping
on the south, is a rugged mass of hills, except for the tract of low-
lying country immediately to the east of the upper defile and the
Hat lands along the Irrawaddy above this on its left bank. These
hills range from 1,000 to 13,000 feet above sea-level and reach their
highest point to the east and north-east of Sad6n, falling away
towards the Irrawaddy. The main ranges run from north to south
and, except where they have been cleared for cultivation, are covered
with dense forest with a tangled undergrowth of cane and small
AO
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. I.
bush. They are very sieep and the soil is poor. Deep valleys
separate the spurs, and at the bottom of these arc rocky streams
with excellent water. Towards the hill-tops water is very scarce,
though many of the villages are situated there. No metals seem to
be found.
West of the Irrawaddy traversed by one of the high roads from
Assam to the Irrawaddy lies the Hukawng valley, lying between
latitude 26'' 15' and ab'* 45' and longitude 96° 15' and 97". It is
about 54 miles in length by 35 in breadth and in Shape somewhat
resembles an egg-cup. Low hills converge to form its southern
boundary. The.se run as sub-features from the Mong Hkawn
(Maing Hkwan) hills bounding the west of the valley, and from the
6,000 feet range of Shwedaunggyi which bounds it on the east, and
meet at a point about 18 miles south-sonth-west of Mong Hkawn.
The northern boundary is a lofty rani^c of about 8,000 feet, a pro-
longation of the Khallak hills. The valley ilseU is absolutely flat
throughout, clothed with dense forest, mostly impenetrable, inter-
sected by numerous beautiful streams and with a considerabJe
population. Like most of the similar valleys in the Shan Stales,
the Hukawng valley formed at no very remote era the bed of an
Alpine lake, which, like that of the Manipur valley, has been gra-
dually raised to its present level by long continued alluvial deposits
and detritus from the hills which encircle it on every side, These
deposits raised the level of the water and facilitated its drainage,
until it became so shallow that evaporation completed the process
and rendered the soil fit for habitation. This process is by slow
degrees being carried out in the Yawng Hwe lake.
The Hukawng valley drains into the Tanai river, which when it
loaves the valley takes the name of the Chindwin. The Tanai kha,
called in its upper reaches the Tanai Ivu (the head or source), rises
in the hills south-west of Thama, in latitude 25^ 30' and longitude
97**, and flows almost due north until it enters the south-east corner
of the Hukawng valley, when it turns north-west and continues in
that direction, cutting the valley into two almost equal parts,
until it reaches the north-west verge, when it turns almost du
south. It is a swift clear river ranging from 50 to 300 yards in^
w^idth and is fed on both sides by numerous streams, the largest of
which, the Tarong, comes from the north. Except the Tawan, also
coming from the north, the other tributaries are small, ranging from
5 to 40 yards in breadth. They run swift and clear, over gravel or
pebble bottoms with high dry banks. In the valley they are very
tortuous and form deep pools here and there.
Of other rivers the chief on the left bank is the Taping, which
the Kachins call Myun kha. It rises in China about latitude 27**.
CHAP. I.]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
21
I
At the point where the Nampaung joins it it is a raging torrent,
with huge boulders and foaming rapids, and is perfectly impassable
for men, mules, or boats. In the cold weather it is about 75 yards
broad, but is double this in the rains. Boats of a large size can go
up the Taping as far as Myothit. Small dug-outs can go another
2 miles up to the mouth of the Nantabet, which rises in the south
and is itself navigable as far as Kazu. Here the river is in places
only 15 to 20 yards wide, with a current of 6 miles an hour and a bed
full of rocks both concealed and above water. Myothit is at the
mouth of the defile and the Taping is 180 yards wide here with a
depth of 9 feet in the centre in the cold weather and a current of 3
miles an hour. After this point it winds about through the plains
and joins the Irrawaddy a mile and a half above Bhamo.
The Nampaung is a rocky torrent rising near Alaw Pum. It is
about 30 yards wide at its mouth and easily fordable all through its
course, the latter part of which is between impassable hills. Its
chief importance is that it forms the boundary line with China.
North of the Taping on the left bank is the Molfe, which the
Kachins call Manii kba. It joins the Irrawaddy about 5 miles above
Bhamo close to Kyungyi after a very tortuous course through the
plains and is navigable for large country-boats as far as Hnget-
pyadaw. Above this it is a rocky torrent, though it is fordable in
many places coming out of the Kadon, Wach6n, and Khwikhaw hills.
Below Khwikhaw it is only a foot deep with a breadth of 15 yards.
The Nam Sang kha rises to the west of Bumra Shikong and enters
the Irrawaddy opposite Hotha about 5 miles south of Ayeindama.
1 1 appears to be navigable as far as Pantong for small boats. At
Ka-u in January the stream is 40 yards broad and 2 feet deep, with
sandy gravelly bottom, free from stones, and a ver)' sluggish current.
The Namien kba rises in Namien Ku Pum. In the hills it is a
rocky torrent full of boulders and deep holes. I1 is fordable, but not
without difficulty. At Loisaw in the plains west of Hop6ng it
begins to be navigableand enters the Irrawaddy near VVaingmaw,
not far below Myilkyina. Other streams on the left bank are all
torrents and unnavigable.
On the right bank the Mogaung river is the chief tributary of
the Irrawaddy, which it enters in 34° 53'. It rises in the north-
west of the Hukawng valley above latitude 26^ and flows south-east.
As far as Kamaing it retains its old Shan name of Nam Kawng. It
is navigable for steam-launches as far as Laban, up to which point
it is never less than 50 yards wide and usually averages 70. Be-
tween Kamaing and Laban the channel is apt to shift, and sandbanks
studded with snags impede free navigation. The Mogaung river
fla
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. I.
in its lower reaches is tortuous and the country on cither side is
mostly jungle-covered, while low hills shut the river in.
The only other tributary of any importance on the right bank of
the Irrawaady is the Nam Kwi This rises to the north in the lati-
tude of the confluence and runs southward parallel to the Irrawaddy
until it enters that river 5 miles south of H^chetn. It is 60 yards
wide and 2i feel deep with a good sound bottom.
Little is known of the streams in the Kachin Hills north of the
confluence, but none appear to be navigable and they are all very
much alike with deep rocky gorges and precipitous Banks covered
with deep jungle. Bridges arc unknown, but, except in the rains, the
rivers seem to be all fordable. Most of the drainage of the country
between the Mali and the'Nmal flows eastwards into the latter river.
In the mass of hills there are three main ranges. The western-
most of these is the water-parting between the Chindwin and
the Irrawaddy. Under the name of the Patkoi or Pikoi range it
runs east and west across the north of the Hukawng valley and
then, under the name of Jaumong Pum, turns south and forms the
eastern limit of the same valley. Farther south still it is known as
the Kam6n range and a little north of Mogaung a large spur goes off
dividing the Tanai from the Mogaung river. So far as is known, its
highest peak lies to the north-east of the Hukawng valley and rises
to a height of over 10,000 feet, tast of this range lies the water-
shed between the Mali and the 'Nmai l-ha, the heart of the Kachin
country. This is but little known beyond its southern extremity.
East of this again is the water-parting between the Irrawaddy and
the Salween. This splits into two before arriving at the known part
of the Kachin country, one branch dividing the Irrawaddy from the
Taping, and the other separating the Taping from the Nam Mao or
Shweli. The highest peak in the more northerly branch is Bumra
Shikong, 8,523 feet. The southern branch rises to a height of about
7,000 feel west of Loisao to the south-west of Nam Ilkam. In the
early morning in December the lowlying hills and plains are covered
with a dense raw fog and there are very heavy dews later. In the
higher country from the end of November until the end of March
there is a cool breeze during the day and frosts at night. In Janu-
ary the sun in the middle of the day is hot and a haze begins which
gradually thickens till it is laid by the rains. The rainfall during
the wet season is heavy, but has not been registered.
Only a very small portion of the northern and eastern frontiers of
Tk^ci,. uii t^*-* S^^" Stales have been as yet defined. The
area, however, may be estimated at between
40,000 and 50,000 square miles, and broadly speaking they may
be said to lie between the I9lh and 24th parallels of latitude and
the 96tli and 102nd of longitude. It must, however, be understood
that their shape is roughly that of a triangle, with its base on the
plains of Burma and its apex on the M^khong river, so that to the
eastward the superficial area rapidly diminishes.
The ranges which run fan-wise (roni tliehigh steppes of Tibet are
at first almost as sharply defined as the deep gorges in which the
rivers run. But as the ribs of a leaf fade away into the texture, so,
as space is gained, the ridges spread out and fall away. The Irra-
waddy and the Mfekhong gain space for their basins at the expense
of the Salween, so that not only is this river crushed up in its bed,
but its watershed on either side is so compressed that, though it falls
away, there is not room to form a plain. This is what causes what
is called the Shan plateau. The original Satween-Irrawaddy water-
shed is disturbed in its continuity by the Taping and the Shweli,
which split it into two and then comes a geological fault, where the
Namtu or Myit-ngfe takes its rise at no great distance from the Sal-
wet-n and runs east and west across the map into the Inawaddy.
This completely breaks up the first well marked water-parting and
leaves the table-land of the Shan States, which is roughened by
ridges of its own, all of them still in favour of the Irrawaddy. On
the eastern side the water-parting between the Salween and the
Mekhong keeps up its continuity much further south, and if the
Salween has the advantage in the Namting. the Mfekhong " comes
me cranking in " with the Namlwi and cuts a monstrous cantleout.
Before, however, there is room for a table-land to form, the Mfekhong
makes its huge sweep from Chieng Usen to ihe east and leaves
space for the various streams which form the Mtnam to continue
the constriction of the last stages of the Salween basin.
The Shan plateau is therefore properly only the coimtry between
the Salween and the Irrawaddy. On the west it is abruptly mark-
ed by the long line of hills, which begin about Bhamo and run
ithwards till they sink into the plains of Lower Burma. On the
ist it is no less sharply marked by the deep narrow rift of the Sal-
ween, the most uncompromising natural boundary in the world.
The average height of the plateau is between 2,000 and .1,000
feet, but it is seamed and ribbed by mountain ranges which split
up and run into one another, though they still preserve the original
north and south direction, and leave here and there space for broad
rolling downs and sometimes only for flat-bottomed valleys. On
the north the Shan States are barred across by the east and west
ranges which follow the line of the Namtu. The huge mass of
Loi Ling, 8,842 feet, projects southward from this and from either
«4
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. t.
side of it and to the southward extends the wide billowy plain
which forms the most important part of the Shan Slates and ex-
tends down to Mong Nai. The ascent from the plains of Burma
leads to a similar series of downs, a sort of shelf which overlooks the
valley of the Irrawaddy until it breaks into a confused mass of peaks
and ridges in the Karen hills. Elsewhere the spaces between the
hills are either Ions; riband-lines of cultivation in a river valley, or
circular plains bounded by entering and re-entering spurs. In the
Northern Shan States, south of the Namtu, the watershed between
the Irrawaddy and the Salween is a mere undulation of the ground,
and then through broken country it trends westward, until in the
Myelat it reaches the edge of the plateau which overlooks the plains
of Burma.
The highest peaks are in the north and the south. Loi Ling
mentioned above is the highest point west of the Salween, and in
Kokang and other parts of North Hsenwi there are many peaks
above 7,000 feet, and the same heights are nearly reached in the
hills of the Karen country. The majority of the inierniediate
parallel ranges have an average of between 4,cx}o and 5,000 feet
with peaks rising to over 6,000.
The country beyond the Salween is much less open and more
hilly, that is to say, instead of a rolling plateau there is a mass of
broken hills. It presents no clearly defined range of mountains,
but rather a confused and intricate mass of hills, where the several
drainage systems may be said to overlap each other, and, beyond
a few narrow valleys and some insignificant plains, no open space
is seen until Keng Tung ^w'li*^^ 's in the basin of the Miikhong)
is reached. Except in the north, as is the case west of the Sal-
ween, the hills are clad with dense forest. In the south towards the
M6nam they range from 2,000 to 3,000 feet, while in the north
towards the \Va States they average from 5,000 to 7,000. Several
peaks rise to 8,oco feel, such as Loi Maw. 8,102, and the abrupt-
ness of the slopes, especially in the north, is very marked.
The Salween and the Mfekhong have been generally described
above. The main tributaries of ihe Irrawaddy are the Nam Tu
(Myit-ng^) and the Zaw-gyi. The Nam Tu rises in a hill swamp
some distance east of Hsen VVi town, runs west into Tawng Peng,
I-oi Long, south ihrough mountain gorges into the Hsi Paw valley,
and then through the narrow Pyaun^ Shu gorge down to Amarapura.
It is navigable only to the fi>ot of the hills, but dug-outs ply on
many reaches of the upper river and it is unfordable after it enters
Tawng Peng. The Zaw-gyi rises in Lawk Sawk State and has a
most extraordinarily tortuous course until it descends to the plains
CHAP. I.]
PHYSICAL GEOGRAPHY.
»S
through Maw. Us waters and those of the Myittha are utiliaed
for the Kyauks6 irrigation canals.
The main tnbutaries of the Salween on the right bank are the
Nam Pang, the Nam Teng, and the Nam Pawn. The Nam Pang
rises in the hills north of Loi L6ng at no great distance from the
Salween and runs parallel to that river until it enters it some dis-
tance south of the Kaw ferrj^. It flows partly through plain coun-
try and partly between low jungle-covered hills, but everywhere it
is noted for its rocky bottom, which appears in reefs and ruptures
producing cataracts throughout its entire course, and it finally enters
the Salween in a foaming descent several hundred yards long. At
Keng Hkam, 15 miles above this, it is quarter of a mile wide
with numerous islands. It is unfordable south of Mong Hkao in
West Mang Lonand boats ply upon it locally, but as a stream it is
unnavigable. The Nam Teng rises in the hills to the west of Mong
Kiing on the watershed range and flows through Kehsi Man Hsam,
Lai Hka, and Mong Nawng into KOng Tawng and enters the Sal-
ween at Ta Hsup Teng on the border of Mawk Mai and Karenni.
Like the Nam Pang it is full of rocks and boulders in its upper
course, but in the plains of Lai Hka and Keng Tawng it becomes
comparatively sluggish and clay-buttonicd. In its lower course it
enters among the hills, and the last few miles are little better than
a lasher. It is therefore unnavigable, but far up Into Lai Hka there
are boats on it which serve ferries and move about locally.
Unlike ihese two the Nam Pawn is shut in between hills through-
out its entire course, with only occasional breaks of narrow plain
land. It rises on the borders of Lai Hka and Mong Pawn and south-
ward of the capital of the latter State is fordable only in a few
places and indeed runs for miles through narrow gorges. It enters
the Salween in Karenni at Pa/aung. The Nam Pawn receives the
waters of the Nam Pilu, which issues as a considerable stream from
the Yawng Hwe lake and is navigable for 70 miles to Loi Kaw in
Karenni. A few miles below that place it sinks into the ground
and so joins the Nam Pawn at the foot of the hills some miles away.
A little lower the Nam Tu, rising in the hilts of ihe Brfe Karens,
enters the Nam Pawn not far from its mouth. Its course is of the
same hilly character as that of the Nam Pawn and like it it is un-
navigable.
On the left bank of the Salween the chief tributaries are the Nam
Ting, the Nam Hka, and the Nam Hsim. The Nam Ting rises in
the Chinese Shan States to the north-west of Shunning-fu and,
flowing nearly due west, enters the Salween some miles below
Kun L6ng ferry, where it forms the boundary between North Hsen
d6
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. I.
Wi and S6n Mu States. In its upper course it is shut in by hills,
but near its mouth it has a fairly wide flat valley, which affords
abundance of room for the terminus of the Mandalay-Kun LAng
Railway. The Nam Hka appears to have its chief source in the
mountain lake of Nawng Hkeo. It receives a number of affluents
from the well-watered VVa country and is increased in volume by the
Nam Ping flowing northwards out of Keng Tong State. As far as
is known, it is unnavigable at its mouth as it is for most parts of
its course, though it is unfordable in most parts far up in the \Va
States. It is shut in by hills, except in a very few places, the chief
ofwhich is Pang Hseng opposite Mong Ngaw in Mong Lem ter-
ritory. The Nam Hsim is also a river of considerable size and
rises in the range to the north-west of Keng Tang. Throughout
it has a very rapid current and in its lower reaches it seems to be
little better than a torrent. It is only fordablein dry weather on the
southern of the two routes to Keng Tong. In addition to these
there are great numbers of shorter affluents, sometimes with a con-
siderable volume of water, but with only a short course and useful
only as means of floating out timber, or as roads down to the Sal-
ween.
The climate of the Shan States varies very considerably. From
December to February or March it is cool everywhere and on the
open downs sometimes as much as lo degrees of frost are experi-
enced. In most parts during the hot weather the shade temperature
does not exceed from 80° to 90** Fahr., but in the narrow vallevs
and especially in the Salween valley the shade maximum reaches
over 1 00° regularly for several weeks about April. Even on the
highest peaks of the north snow seems to fall but very rarelv.
White frosts are, however, nearly universal in the paddy valleys,
where condensation greatly reduces the temperature and greater
cold is experienced than on the ridges several ihou.sand feet above.
The rains begin about the end of April or the beginning of May,
but they are not continuous until August, which appears always to
be the wettest month. The rainfall varies greatly, but seems to
range from about 60 inches in the broader valleys to about too on
the higher mountains.
The fauna of Upper Burma does not greatly differ from that of
P the Lower Province, particulars of which will be
found in the British Burma Gasetteer, or in the
more elaborate works edited by Dr. Blanford. The hilly country
naturally contains other species, but the subject is not one that can
be condensed, and as yet no one has had the leisure to carry on
systematic scientific research, or to record the results he may nave
CHAP. I.J
PHYSICAL GKOGRAPHY.
27
obtained which would be new to specialists. In general terms it
may be said that the birds and beasts. of the Chin, Kachin, and Shan
hills seem to be much the same. The elephant is to be found near
any of the plains where water is plentiful and the herds are occasion-
ally large in the Shan States. Bison {Gavteus gaurus) are to be
found in the same localities. Rhinosceros^ both the Sumatrensis
and the Sondaicus, are found both on the Irrawaddy and the Sal-
wecn, and near them are usually saing {Gavceus Sondaicus). Ail
kinds of deer (sambhur, hog-deer, barking-deer, and brow-anllered
deer) are met with almost in all parts, and the ghural and the serow
{/Vemorhtedus Bulfah'na) are ionnd on the more secluded and jungly
slopes, as are some of the Capridie. The tiger and the panther
are almost too common in many parts of the hills, and man-eaters
of both species were for a time numerous in the Shan States.
All of the Felidm, indeed, are abundant, as well as the Viverridcs
and paradoxures or tree-cats. The common and the small-clawed
otter haunt most streams and both the Malayan sun-bear and the
Himalayan black bear do much harm to hill cultivation and fre-
quently maul the cultivators. The wild dog hunts in packs, and
it is confidently asserted that the jackal also Has been seen, though
the belief was thai he docs not exist in Burma. Badgers and
porcupines are widely distributed, and monkeys and apes (Afacacus
and Semuopithecus) exist in great variety, as do squirrels, some with
very handsome furs. Hares are common wherever there is pasture
for them. Wild boar are very abundant, but never in country where
they can bo coursed, and the pangolin, or armadillo as he is usually
called, finds abundance of ants to eat, though he is not often seen
himself. Bats and the various kinds of Muridce, as well as voles,
are particularly numerous in their species.
The birds of Burma have been specially dealt with by Mr. Eugene
Oates. Several rare varieties of pheasant have been found in the
Shan States and the argus and silver pheasants are to be got with
reasonable certainty by those who seek for them. The number of tree
partridges is considerable and the painted quail has been shot.
Woodcock arc extensively found, but not in such numbers as to
deprive the succefssful shot of complacency. The Anatidtesxe found
in very great variety. Nearly 20 varieties have been shot on the
Aungplnle water near Mandalay, and the number of species obtained
on the Yawng Hwe and smaller remote lakes greatly exceeds this.
The Columhid(e are very numerous from the great imperial pigeon
to the smallest variety of the green pigeon. Birds of prey are abund-
ant, but seem to be of the usual species. They cover very wide
tracts of country. The English cuckoci {Cucttlus canorus) occurs,
but the black cuckoo of India is far more common. It begins to
38 THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. I.
call in the Shan States towards the end of March. The lark ap-
pears to be the same as the European species and sings as sweetly.
Both the sarus {Grus antigone) and the demoiselle crane are found
in the Shan States, but the former is the commoner. The Bncerotidoe^
or hombills, are found in great variety wherever there is much forest,
and the PicidcB^ or woodpeckers, are still more numerous in species
and in brilliance of plumage. Singing birds are more common in
the hills than in the plains, and many of the Turdidis are as mellow
in their note as those of home gardens. Of the smaller birds at high
altitudes many are no doubt new to science.
So far as is known, the reptilian fauna of Upper Burma differs in
no way from that of the Lower Province. The Chapter by Mr.
Theobald in the British Burma Gazetteer may be consulted, as well
as that on ichthyology in the same work.
Cobras are rare in the hills. In some places the necklace snake,
the Tic polonga or Russel's viper, is particularly common, as for
example at MInbu. The BungaruSy or Krait, on the contrary is
rare.
In all the hill streams the niahseer and the carp in several varie-
ties are very common. The former have been caught with the rod
in the Nam Teng and other rivers up to 28 pounds.
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
39
CHAPTER II.
HISTORY.
TH£ RSIGNS OF KING MINDON AND KING TBIBAW FROM
BURMESE SOURCES.
In the British Burma Gase/ieer, published in 1880, the history
of Burma is brought down to the end of the second Burmese war,
that is to say, to the year 1853. The end of the war was practical-
ly coincident with the fall of Pagan Min and the ascent of the
throne by Mindon Min. In the papers of the Hlutdaw was found
a sort of Annual Register, a chronicle in Burmese, of the events of
the King's reign, and from this the following disjointed narrative of
events is translated, with notes by foreign servants of the King
added here and there. The history is singularly parochial. Little
notice is taken of what passed outside of Burma, very little indeed
of events outside of the capital. But since it furnishes an example
of the way in which the Burmese thought history should be record-
ed, it seems a document worth preserving, and it is given exactly as
the annalist wrote it down with the margmal notes added by a later
scribe. It gives a remarkably good picture of the King, one nf
the best Kings Burma ever had. He was for ever engaged in pious
and meritorious works, and these are sedulously chronicled. He was
genial and amiable and passionately anxious for peace ; he was
imperious In his manner ; he was very easily led, and yet he had a
high sense of his responsibilities ; he was vain and proud of his
Buddhistic learning, yet he was eager for knowledge and anxious
to keep himself informed of the progress of events in foreign
counlries. All this is naively brought out by the Burman historian.
This history of King Mindon is followed by details from native
sources of the accession of King Thibaw and of the chief events in
his short reign.
In the month of November 1852 there was a dacoity in the
Danun quarter of Amarapura, at the house of Ma Th^, the sister of
Ma Ywe, the Pagan King's nurse. The dacoity took place at one
in the morning and the same day Pagan Min ordered the Myowun,
who was Governor of the city, to arrest the dacoils. The MyoTvun
immediately sent for Shwe Hnya and Nga Lat, two notoriously bad
characters, and told them they must Bnd the dacoits. Upon this
3°
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. II.
these two men said that a few days before the dacoity they saw
the Kanaung Min's men, Nga Yan Gale, Nga Thdn Byin, and Nga
Shwe Waing, come oui of Ma Thfe's house. These men were
arrested and examined, but nothing was found against ihem. They
were, however, delained because they were the Kanaung Min's men,
and shortly afterwards they were again exanrjned before the Taung'
dve Bo, Maung Tok, and the Ponna U'utj, Maung Kala, inside the
Palace, but still noihing came out about the dacoits. The Myintal
Bo, Maung Po, then represented to Pagan Min that, besides these
three men, there were others from Shwcbo living in the houses of
Mind6n Min and Knnaung Min. He gave the names of the fol-
lowing men, — Maung Kh^, Maung Net Pya, Maung Shwe Eik,
Maung Shwe Thalk, Maung Shwe Tha, and Maung Thu Yin.
Upon this Mindon Min's Akytsaye, Maung Pa, the Kanaung A/i/f
tka's Akyisaye, Maung Yfe, Maung Hnin, and the Kunyagaung,
Maung Shwe Aung, were thrown into prison and ordered to deliver
up these men. The Kanaung Mintha and Mindon Min's chief
Akyidan\ Maung Yan We, then went logether to Mind6n Min's
house and set the matter before him. They pointed out how these
men had been falsely imprisoned and that there was a regular plot
to misrepresent the matter to Pagan Min and to secure the punish-
ment of these men contrary to justice. They therefore advised
Mindon Min for his own sake to leave the place. At first Mindon
Min objected and said that after the death of his father he looki
upon Pagan Min, his elder brother, as having taken the place of"
his father, and respected him accordingly. Pagan Min, moreover,
had given both him and the Kanaung Min a greater number of
cities for their portion and therefore it was right that he should ex-
pect submission. This he repeated three or four times. The
Kanaung Mintha pointed out again that it was the Ministers who
were falsely representing the matter to the King, and that even if he
and Mindon Min did rot leave the city, they ought to allow their
servants to do so, in order that they at least might escape punish-
ment. Then at last Mindon Min sent for his chief followers and
pointed out that the enquiry into the dacoity case was being carried
on in a very unusual way. The investigation was not held in the
lilutdav) as it ought to have been, or at least In the Bybiaik^ or the
police courts, but was being conducted in the south garden of the
palace by the Taungdive Boy Maung Tok, and the Ponna Wun,
Maung Kala, who were thus able to do what they pleased. Min-
d6n Min also added that he had heard from some of the queens
that the object was to prove that he and the Kanaung Mintha had
instigated the dacoity and so to get them into trouble ; he therefore
wished to know what his people thought of the matter. The Kan-
CHAP. U.]
HISTORY.
3«
I
I
I
I
I
aung Aftntha said that it was clear to him that there was an orga-
nized plot to bring them into disgrace with the King and ultimately
to secure their downfall. He then went on to remind them what his
and Mindon Min's mother had often related: how a few days be-
fore Mind6n Min was bom in 1814 a vast multitude of people had
come to worship at the Ratanamyazu pagoda at Myedi to the
north of Amarapura. This she always maintained foretold a high
destiny for Mindon, who was to become head of the religion and pro-
tector of the people. Another omen also there was : a banyan tree
in front of their residence in Amarapura, opposite the Shwe Linbin
Pagoda, burst into flower, which is against the law of nature. Many
people from all parts of the country came to see and worship before
this tree, and from that time all the people loved and respected
Mindon Min. The Kanaung Mintha was therefore of opinion that
they should all immediately leave the city and make for a safe place,
where they could consider what was to be done, and put themselves
in communication with their friends, the i'A"-Madaya 7vun, Maung
On Sa, the ^A-Kyaiikhmo myowun, Maung Nun Bon, the ex-
Yabat Myintat Bo, Maung Kyi, the Kyaukmyaung Myook, Maung
Yi, the f;v-Myedu Myowun, Maung Hlaing, Maung Nyat Pya,
Maung Pa, Maung Thaing, Maung Shwe Ut, Maung Shwe Ba,
Maung Shwe Thct, Maung Gyi, Maung W'alng, Maung Kyi, Maung
Thel Pyin, Maung Shwe Tha, Maung Tu Yin, Maung Taung Ni,
Maung Tha Dun, Maung A Ka, and their relations and followers
in Madaya, Singu, Kyaukmyaung, Shwebo, Myi:du, Tabayin, Pyin-
sali, Thontabin, and other places in the north of the kingdom. When
they had consulted with these people some plan might be formed
for the future. Mind6n Min then said that while he was keeping
fast at the time when his father was living in the temporary palace at
Myedi, a pickle of radishes was made in a jar and the next day the
radishes sprouted. Also while he was living in his former house, a
gardener of Myingun brought a branch of a (lowering tree which was
planted in the garden and burst into blossom only a day or two
afterwards, both of which events were looked upon as fortunate
omens and treasured up in the memory of his mother. Again, one
day when Mindon Min was getting into his carriage to go to the
palace, a small bird called Shive-pyt-so settled on his shoulder, and
this was generally interpreted to mean that one day he would be
King of the Golden City.
Upon this the Prince's following declared that there was evidently
a conspiracy against them. The dacoily had been really commit-
ted by Ma Ywe's men, Nga Hlaing, Maung Shwe Thu, Maung
Tok Tu, and others, but it was now sought to throw the blame of
it on the Prince's men. They were therefore unanimously of
3a
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. ri.
Opinion that they should leave Amarapura, and all promised to serve
Miiidun Mill iaithfuily and devote their lives to his service.
Mind6n Min upon this yielded and he, with all his family and fol-
lowing, to the number of 300, left his house in Amarapura on the
8ih/fl5fl«of Pyatho (i8th December) 185a at about seven o'clock at
night. When they reached the north-eastern gate called Lagyun
they found the door closed. The gatekeeper Nga Po Gaung re-
fused to open it and was killed by one of the Kanaung AfintHa's
men. They then went on to the Arakan pagoda, where they over-
powered the guard and seized their arms and ammunition. Beyond
this al the Yaliaing bazaar an unknown man presented Mindon Min
with a large white pony, which the Prince mounted and rode always
after this. The party camped for the night at Madaya.
The Pomia iVutt, Maung Kala, was the first to report the flight of
the Princes to King Pagan, who immediately sent a Tkanda-sjsin to
see whether it was true. He then ordered the Taungdwe Bo,
Maha-minhla-kyawdin, and the Ponna Wun Mingyi, Maha-min-
kyaw-tazaung, with 500 men to follow and seize them. They with
the Madaya IVun's forces attacked the two Princes on the 19th
December, but were defeated. The Taung Winhmu, Thado-min-
kyaw-maha-mjngaung-yazalhu, with 1,000 men then came and took
over command from the Taungdwe Bo and the Ponna Wun. The
Wundauk Mittgyi, Maha-minkyaw-mindin, the Myauk Tayangase
Bo, Maha-minhla-tazaung, the Yabat Myintai Bo, Maha-mindin-
mingaung, also sent up 500 men by river.
When they arrived at Sagyintaung the Kanaung Afiniha made
his brother Mindon, with the women and children and servants, go
on to Singu, while he remained behind to attack the pursuers. When
the Taungdzve Bo, the Ponna Wun, and the Madaya Wun reached
Sagyin with 1,000 troops the Kanaung Mintha met them with 60
men stationed in the centre of the valley, 60 men under Maung Shwe
Thet on the eastern side, and 60 men under Maung Mo on the west-
ern side of the valley. The King's forces attacked, but were beaten
off and then the Kanaung Mintha followed his brother over lo
Singu. At Shweg6ndaing a number of Shans with arms and
ammunition joined them and at Segyet and other villages along the
line of march people flocked in to support them or ^ive them
weapons. At Singu Mindon Min with the women ana children
crossed the river first and then the Kanaung Mintha made the
Myook a prisoner, crossed over, and destroyed all the boats. The
parly then made for !"Cyaukmyaung, where 130 men were picked out
and hidden on the bank of the rivec near Makaukmala. When the
Taung Winhmu with the Taungd-we Bo and the Ponna Wun with
CHAP, ir.]
H [STORY.
33
their men came up this party suddenly attacked ihem from their
ambush and killed a great number and so checked the pursuit.
Meanwhile Mindon Min held a conference as to what point he should
ft make for and suggested Shwebo. The Ngamyo VtvadJ:, Maung
' T6k Gyl, was against this. Shwebo he said was well defended ana
beyond their strength, and he therefore advised a march to Manipur.
The Yindaw WmigyCs son, Maung Po Hlaing, however, pointed out
that hitherto in all their skirmishes they had been victorious against
the King's troops and reminded ihem that the Shwebo IVun was so
hated by the people that they would not fight for him. A retreat
Ion Manipur he said would alienate all ihe people who had declared
for them, while the capture of Shweb i would gain over a still larger
number. Maung So, who afterwards became Yenangyaung Mingyi
and other officials united in supporting this advice and a party of
about 1,000 men was sent to attack Shwebo. A few men went
on in front to set fire to some houses, and during the confusion the
rest rushed into the town. The Shwebo Wun, who had 3,000 men
with him, was routed and fled for his life. Mindon Min immediate-
ly afterwards marched into the town and look up his quarters in the
kAVmis house preparatory to building himself a palace. This was
on the lath /rfjffn of Pyatho (the aand December) of the same
year. Immediate preparations were made for the defence of the
place. Maung Shwo Bvin, the Myintai Bo of Hladawgyi, with all his
lamily, relations, and following, to the number of 100 with 100
ponies, came in and was appointed a chief Bo with a force of 500
men stationed at I lalin to the south of Shwebo. Maung Shwe Thcl
also with a command of 500 men was stationed at Kauk and Ta-6n
to the east of the city, and Maung Hlaing had the defence of the
north with headquarters at Pyinzala, Thontabin, and Myedu. After
this a number of Saivb-was came in and gave their allegiance lo Min-
don Min and were confirmed in their titles and appointments.
VVhen Pagan Min heard of the defeat of his troops and the loss
of Shwebo he appointed his vounger brother, Hlaing Min Thiri-
dhammayaza, to the command of 1 ,000 men and gave him as assist-
ants the Daing Wundauk, Myank Taya-ngasd Bo, and the Amyauk
IVun and despatched them to operate by way of Sagaing. He also
gave the Mohnyin Prince, Thiridhammayaza, and his son, the Hlaing-
det Prince, Thadominyfe Kyawdin, 500 men and sent them up by
way of Alon.
Meanwhile the force commanded by the Taung IVinhmu, the
Taungdwe Bo,^x\&x\\G Ponna J fun again advanced to the attack at
Ta-6n and were met by Mindon-Min's leaders Bo Thet, Bo Maung
Gyi, Bo Be, Bo Waing, and Bo Kyh. The King's troops were again
~ defeated and fled with the enemy in hot pursuit across the river to
34
THE UPPER BURMA GAZErfEER. [CHAP. il.
Singu, and at a villajE^e, Khulaing, in that circle the Taung li'inhmu
and the Tonngdwe Bo were captured togeiher with their elephants,
gold cups, swords, and umbrellas and other insignia by Bo Waing and
a Shan trader and handed over lo Mindon Min's people at Ta-dn.
The Ponna IVun, however, escaped. At Halin also, to the south of
Shwebo Mind6n's troops were equally successful. The royal forces
commanded by (he Paunjr IVunfinuk, Maung Kini, and the Yabai
Myiniat 80, Maung Po, were completely rcuted by Bo Byin and Bo
Hpa, and the Myauk-faya-ngasd Bo committed suicide m a sayat.
Bo Byin thtn marched south to Saqain^; with 1,000 men and on his
way, at Samun, came upon Hlaing Min, who fought most deter-
minedly, but in the end was beaten back with great loss of arms and
amniunit-Dn. which were sent to Shwebo. Mindon Min now appoint-
ed the She Winhmu, Tharawun Mingyi Mahamingaung, to the cnn»*
mand of the forces on the east of the river with the Yaukmyaung
Bo, Mahamingyaw, the Thetchobin Bo^ Minhlaiazaung, the Singu
Afyo-wnn, Mingyaw, and the Madaya Bo as his lieutenants. Tnc
lauug Winhmtt Afittgyi, Mahaiayabyaw, was at about the same
lime despatched to Al6n to fight the Mohnyin Prince, whom he
defeated. Upon this the That6n iVnngyi, Mahayazathugyaw, was
appointed Commander-in-Chief of all the forces and marched for
Amarapura by way of Sagaing.
Pagan Min now called an assembly of all the chief f>ongyis and
ficdesiasiics and officials in Amarapura and explained the situation
to them. The troops which he had sent against the revolted
princes had all been beaten, and on account of the constant drain of
men to the lower country to fight the British there were no more
fighting men left. He did not wish the people to be oppressed, or
burdened on his account and he was therefore willing to abdicate in
favour of Mindon Min and wished the assemblage to authorize
representatives to go and inform Mindon Min of this decision.
Accordingly the Ma?we IVundttuk Mingyi. Maha-minhla-sithu-
amahayanemyo-sithu, Than dang an Tat Pau. Ameindawya Maung
Po, with the Chief Gaivgoks, were sent off 10 Mind6n Min. At
Saya village in Sagaing, however, they met the Talok ^^'wtgyi, who
refused to allow them to go on to Shwebo, so they had to return to
Amarapura again, whither also all the troops sent out by Pagan Min
returned. The Zal6n Wungyi, Maha-yaza-thukyaw, thereupon took
possession of Sagaing and Mind»^n Min sent some representatives to
the British troops, asking them, In consideration of former friend-
ship, to delay their advance for the present.
Pagan Min meanwhile held another conference in the palace and
said that, since his peaceable overtures had not only not been receiv-
ed, but the messengers ^f peace had actually been turned back, there
I
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
35
remained nothing bul lo fortify the city, shut the gates, and mount
all the guns on the walls, so as to make the best possible defence.
The Kyiwun Mingy! , Thadomingyi Mahathetdawshe, was appointed
to command the norih wall, Meyinzaya Athonnun, Thadomingyi
Mahamingaungmindin, to command on the east, Myana;ng Aihdn-
wutt, Thadoming)'i-maha-minhla-minkyaw, on the south. The
Hlaing Prince, wiih the title of Eingshemitiy Thiri-mahadhamma-
yaza, commanded on the western side of the city. Tlie Pagan Min
came out of the palace in a State carriage and made an inspection
of t!ie troops all round the walls and returned to the palace again.
When the Zalon Wiiugyi heard of these arrangements for the
defence he put Bo Hai in command of alt the forces on the east side
t)i the city, sent the Taungbo Myifignung, Maha-mingaung-thuya,
forward with 4,000 men on the south, and gave the Papai AthouTvun
and Uladawgyi Bo Byin 2,000 men each 10 attack on the west and
north sides of the city. The troops, however, when they reached the
suburbs surrounded the city, but instead of fighting they plundered
the country, dug up treasure, and burned and sacked in a way which
had never been known in Burma before. Meanwhili? Mindon Min,
seeing that the city was very strongand well supplied with provisions,
and that it was necessary to have a man in command who was well
acquainted with the country, appointed his brother Commander-in-
Chief of all the forces with the title of Eingshemin (heir-apparent)
and sent him with 5,000 men from Shwebo. The Eingshemin left
Shwebo on the 1 1 th January v853andarrivedat Sagaingon the 18th,
He dug up two cannon which were buried in Ava and conmenced to
bombard the town with them. These cannon were 5 cubits 4 inches
long, 2 J cubits in circumference, with a bore of 1 span. The followers
ot the Mohnyin Prince and his son, the HIaingdet Prince, who had
been defeated at Alon, gradualfy deserted and dwindled away and the
two leaders with a few' followers were seized by the Governor of Myin-
gyan at Pun-ngo ami handed over as prisoners 10 the Eingshemin at
Sagaing. Shortly after this a number of the Pagan Min :» troops, who
had been sent to light the British in Lower Burma, retuined and joined
the Eingshemin. Notwithstanding these successes, Mindon Min
lost patience with the slow progress o[ the siege and sent orders to
push matters on. Delay, he said, would be punished with the ex-
ecution of the Zalon Afzngyi and all the other officials. The fight-
ing then became very severe and many fell on both sidtrs. Of the
Pagan Min's supporters the Afyaukdawebo Maha-mylnaung yaza and
the AmyaukTvun Mingyi Maha-mlndin-mingaung were killetf, but still
no definite advantage was gained. The main body of the troops
sent by Pagan Min to fight the British under the Kyaukpadaung
Wungyi Thado-Lhudharania-niaba-mingaung and the Sittaung Wun-
3«
^
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
^_V; Thado-minyfc-mingaung now returned and, when they met Min-
don Mill's troops, ihey all deseiled and handed over their leaders to
the Eingshemin al Sagaint;. The iw o generals were placed in palan-
quins and carried round the city walls of Amarapura to dishearten
the garrison and were made to call out, " Give up all hope for we
have been captured." Upon this a large body of the King's truops
deserted with their arms. These were taken and sent to Sagaing
and the men were allowed lo go to their villages. The HIaing
Prince, however, made a sally and overthrew Mmdon's troops and
drove them back to the river. He then camped with a thousand
men at Parani, opposite the Nandamu gate, to the south-west of
the city. This was on the i8th February, but on the same day the
Kyaukhmu IVungyi^ who had been keeping up a correspondence
with the Crown Prince at Sagaing and had secretly won over the
troops, suddenly arrested the Kyi-wun Mitifryi Maung Pyaw, Afhiht
-wuti Maung Po, Siti-athomvun Maung Pauk Si, WuttJau/: Maung
Than Ni, Wutidauk Maung Shwe Yi, and other influential oflicials
immediately after a meeting of the Hint. Mind6n Min's troops
were then admitted into the city and overran it all. When the
HIaing Prince heard the uproar he returned with a few troops, but
was almost Immediately overpowered and killed.
The same night the Eingshemin came over from Sagaing and
stayed at the Yenarttia'd\ or water palace, and moved next day into
the Illut after having put guards over the 13 gates of the city and
the four gates of the palace. All the arms in the city were collect-
ed and stored in the Hlutda-x and the Pagan Min's ofFlcials were
all arrested, while the crown and the royal robes and insignia were
sent to Shwebo. Mlndon Min sent strict orders that Pagan Min
was to be treated with every consideration and to be allowed to
live in the AUnandaia (the central palace) with all his queens.
He was bom on the second lasan of Waso 181 1, ascended the
throne at the age of 35, and reigned for six years and three months
until the i8th of February 1853, at 9 o'clock in the morning (as
the Burman chronicles remark with great exactitude). He was
then 41 years and eight months of age and died of small-pox in
Mandalay in 1881.
Mind6n Min had already at Shwebo received the allegiance of
many of the Shan Saubwas. He now sent to summon in the rest
lo make their submission and ordered all fA-oflicials to come in also.
The Tawngpeng Sawbwa Thiha-pappa-yaza was the first to appear
and brought presents of gold, silver, ponies, gongs, and iegfiet (pick-
led tea), and received in return a gold saM studded with emer-
alds, a diamond and a ruby ring, pasos, and other gifts. He return-
ed to his State almost immediately. In accordance with the advice
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
37
of the astrologers and wise men the beating of ihe palace bells
and drums was stopped on the ^.yth February and nothing was
beaten but the gong until the time of the coronation.
Pagan Min's mother, sister, aunt, and Bag)idaw*s daughter and
three daughters of Tharrawaddi Min were sent to Shwebo and were
established there in a temporary palace, specially built for them.
On the 4lh waning of Tagu at " one in the morning,*' yi'wg Tharra-
waddi's eldest daughter, the sister of the Pagan Min, was brought
from the palace with great pomp and ceremony to the place where
Mindon Min was. He received her with equal ceremony and state
at the Afyenatty the main building of the palace, and the marriage
service according to Burmese royal custom was carried out with
great rejoicings and feastings. She was appointed chief Queen,
Bagyidaw's daughter was nominated Ald-nammadnwy or middle
Queen, Mind6n Min's former wife became Myatik-nammada-w, or
northern Queen, while a younger daughter of Tharrawaddi was named
Queen of the west, Anank-nammadaic. Oihcr former wives were
appointed queens according to their rank, or the favour they met
with from the King.
Shortly afterwards Mindon Min sent the Kyaukmyosa Mingyi to
Prome to confer with thu English about the Pegu provinces, but
nothing came of the mission and the Mingyi soon returned. The
Saga Myosa, Thaungbansa Mahazaya Wunthuyaza, presented his
sister, a girl of seventeen years of a2;e, to the K ing and she was placed
in the palace apartments. Shortly afterwards the Nyaungywe
(Yawng Mwe) Sawbwa also sent his sister. Pagan Min was sent
in a State barge, called the Udaung Paungda'v.\ with all his queens
to Shwebo, and in another barge, the Karaivatk Paungdaw, the
Eingskemitt accompanied bim They were hospitably received and
well treated by Mindon Min. Before the end of the year an Embas-
sy arrived from the Emperor of China with presents and a con-
gratulatory letter. The Ambassador was detained at Bhamo and
the letter and presents were taken on to Shwebo. King Mind6n in
his turn sent a friendly letter and presents with an Embassy to
Peking and the party went back with the Chinese emissaries. The
Burmese Embassy, however, got no further than Minsin. It was
stopped there by the Mahomedan rebellion in Yunnan. The pre-
sents and letter were sent on to Peking and the Nw/ingfi seni an
answer and further presents in acknowledgment, which were taken
to .^marapura by the Burmese mission on its return. King Min-
d6n also went in State to the Mahanantja lake, where a temporary
palace had been erected. The Eingshemin and al! the Ministers
accompanied him and the whole party ploughed the fields for paddy
cultivation. The King then assigned to the Crown Prince the
3»
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. U.
revenues of Tabayin, Taungdwingyi, Pyinzala, and Salfe, logether
with various gardens nnd paddy- lielils and the title of Mah&thu-
dhammayaza. with a complete retinue of oUciala, Eittgske WuMt
Eingshe .it/iutfu'itft, U^urihmu, Anaukivun, Nakkan, Sayegyt,
Thunsaitig, Thungit. and S'l forth. The Eingshemtn then married
hisslep-si^ler^tfie lllaing Uinthami, a daughter of Tharawaddi Min
by the Anauk-na'/imadav). Mindon Min also ordered the fhado
Xfingyi, Mahaminh'a Kyawthu, to repair the irrigation works on
the l^e^ of Mahananda, Yinhu, Gyogya, Sin:>ul, Kadu, and Pa-
laing. He also sent orders to have the palace at Amarapura repair-
ed and to build new quarters for the Eifigshemin and the Pagan
Min, and, when these were finished, he left Shwebo with all his
queens, officials, and retainers on the 5th labyi^yaw of Tasaung-
mon (November) 1853 and came down by boat to the capital. He
slept two nights on the way, at Kyaukmyaung and Myingun, and
entered the palace without any particular ceremony. Very soon
afterwards the King, with his queens, Ministers and a great follow-
ing, went to see his tild house near the Shwe Kungye-6k pagoda,
north east of Amarapura, and spent some time lookmg it all over.
In Kebruiry 1854 the Ale-nammada-w was delivered of a daughter.
About this time a large ruby, 12 inches in circumference, 4
inches in height, and 23 ticah in weight (equal lo the weight of
Rs. 51) was presented to the King by the Suii-biva of Keng Hting
I Kyaingyongyi), Zodinagara Mahathiha-pawaya Thudhammayaza,
and was broui^ht into the palace with great pomp and ceremony.
The colour of this ruby was that of the ripe ihabye-thi, the fruit
of the Eugenia, it was brought down by the Nga Thinwibwa Sikk^
and the iJaivbaya or Keng HQng Council of Stale.
The Siamese at that time were encroaching on the borders of
K^ng Tong and Keng Hung and the King despatched ihc Kyun-
daung Mivtha Thjri-yalhu-maha-dhammayaza, with a force of 3^000
men, to expel them. In the meantime, however, the Keng HOng
Sawbwa, together with the Saivbwas of Keng TOng and Mong Pu^
combined with the Mong Nai (Mont) Saivb%HX and others and de.
fealed the Siamese. The chief Siamese generals were captured,
together with a vast quantity of arms, ammunition, elephants, and
ornaments. Over a thousand men were killed and wounded and
the rest fled to their o^vn country. This was in the month of May,
and two months later the King received the thanks of the ^a-mbiaas^
according to custom, for the magnificence and power which had
enabled them to defeat tl\eir enemies. The messengers were re-
ceived with great ceremony in the Hall of Audience and the King
afterwards made a great distribution of alms \o pongyts, Brahmins,
and poor people. During the month of TawihaUn Nga ICy^, the
CtiAP. II.] HISTORY. 39
brother of one of the queens, named Ka\vngt6n, presented a large
pearl williin the shell, weighing 25J ficals.
In the same year the Burmese Embassy headed by the Namma-
daw ffw«, Mingyi Maha-mingaung-yaza (named U Pathi and for-
merly Governor of Dalla, opposite Rangoon), with numerous other
high officials, among them Mr. Mackertich, the Kaiawun, was
despatched to Lord Dalhousie at Calcutta with a royal letter and
presents. On thpir arrival they met with a brilliant reception on
the t ith of December at Government House, and were shown all
the sights of the city. At the final interview on the 23rd Decem-
ber the question of the restitution of Pegu was brought up, but (he
Viceroy was Inexorable and the mission returned unsuccessful to
Amarapura, much to the King's chagrin. About this time Mingan
Ngathul6n yaza. SA^-Myoza of Lawk Sawk (Yatsauk), came in and
presented a magic spear to the King.
In 1855 ^ return complimentary mission was sent to Amarapura
by Lord Dalhousie, with Major Arthur Phayre and a staff of jc
gentlemen. They left Rangoon on the \^\. Augusi and reached
the capital on the ist of the following month. The I'Vungyis and
Ainin-nuins gave them a hearty reception at the Residency on tlie
i-^thof September and they were most cordially received by the
King and Queen at the Hall of Audience. The Governor-General's
letter was read with a loud voice by the Thanda'xgan and the list
of presents to the King and Queen was also read. After some
gracious enquiries by the King as 10 the health of the party and
remarks on the weather, the linvoy was presented by the King
with a sahv^ of nine strings, a silver cup embossed with the signs
of the zodiac, two Hne rings, one set with rubies and the other with
sapphires and topazes, and some waist-cloths. After a final inter-
view with the King the party left Amarapura on the 2rs' October
with a letter from the King to the Goverimr-Gencral.
[ Such is the way in which the Burmese chronicle recounts the
attempt to conclude a commercial treaty.]
During this month of October there were 554 people who kept
rigorous fast. Four of these were headmen, and to them the
King gave Rs. 10 each The others were presented with Rs. 5.
Mindon Min also gave alms and robes to 6,457 ^«Wjpy'i belong-
ing to 66 different monasteries, and gave charity to Rs. 6,270 neces-
sitous old men and women.
(n this year a shipowner, named Owen, bought a steamer for
Rs. 1,22,900 and presented it to ihe King. It measured 60 cubits
along the keel and 10 cubits beam and 5 cubits down to the bottom
of the hold.
40
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CH.\P. If,
On the 28th February 1856 an Embassy was sent to Paris, with
a royal letter and presents to the Emperor of the French. The
Embassy was delayed in Cairo by the illness of the Nakkandaw, one
of the party, and did not reach Paris until the 27th September.
They were received by Count Walewski, the Minister of Foreign Af-
fairs, in October and shortly aftens-ards were presented to the Em-
peror and Empress in the Palace of St. Cloud. They were honour-^
ably received in the presence of a number of high officials and Iadi<
and the King's letter to the following purport was read : " In for-
" mer times great friendship existed between these two great coun-
" tries, but these relations have been long interrupted and therefore
** to renew now this ancient friendship, and to add to the advantage
•' and prosperity of both countries, as well as for the welfare and hap-
"piness of the subjects of each, I have sent Nakhan, Mindinyaza-
" thiriyathu, Ahmuy^, Mindin-minhla-sithu, and J. S. Manook, Esq.,
"with a letter and presents, to your great Court with a view to
"cement the former Iriendship. I beg that your Imperial Majesty
"will accept the letter and presents which they bring you, and that
"you will vouchsafe them an audience."
The presents for the Emperor and Empress were one fine gold
sword studded with valuable rubies, one large ruby ring, one
sapphire ring, one large gold cup, weighing about a viss, studded
with precious stones, and a number of fine silk pasos. His Majesty
received the Ambassadors well, thanked them for their presents, and
expressed his desire to keep on friendly terms with the King of.
Burma. A few days aftenvards the party was invited to lunch by
Prince Napoleon and by the Princess Mathllde in their palaces. They
saw all the sights of Paris during their long stay and had a final in-
terview with the Kmperor on the 3rd January 1857 at the Tuileries,
when he presented a fine gun to the Nal'haniiaw, a fine sword to the
Ahtn.Hyi\ and a pair of revolvers to Mr. J. S. Manook. Three days
afterwards the Ambassadors left for Amarapura. In this year
His Majesty's purveyor, Kaswa, brought from India for presentation
a very fine conch shell, with colours like mother-o'-pearl, The
volutes were all turned to the right and it was presented with great
formalities.
King Minddn wished to change the site of the capital from
Amarapura, which had always been unhealthy, so he called to-
gether the chief SayadaTos, the Crown Prince, the Ministers, and
astrologers and consulted ihem. The King suggested the neigh-
bourhood of Mandalay bill and this was unani?nously approved.
The hill had long been noted as a pleasant and well-omened place,
and the wise men now declared that, if the King built a new city
there, he would meet with all kinds of success ; his power would be
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
41
increased ; he would live long himself ; and the throne would be se-
cured to his descendants for many generations, while the people
would be happy and prosperous ; his dominions would be extend-
ed ; and peace and tranquillity would be insured.
The following tradition was produced from old chronicles. The
Great Biuldha, when he overcame the five Mara and was able to
see into futurity, prophesied regarding Mandalay hill as follows :
" This hill, which was known in the time of the Buddha Kakusan-
" dho (Kawkathan) as Khinasavopuram ; in the time of the Buddha
"Konii Gomano (Gawnagon) as Wilawa Pura ; in the time of the
** Buddha Kassapo (Kalhapa) as Padatha-Puram ; and in subse-
" quent times as Mandalay was my abode in many former existences
"as an elephant, as a lion, as a stag, a quail, an iguano, and as a
"hunter, this spot, so fair in its formation, possesses every quality
" that is good and is fit only for the abode of Kings." Thus spake
the Lord Buddha when he visited the place with his disciple Anan-"
da. A female biln heard him as he spake and worshipped his coun-
tenace, which shone like the moon at the full. In her ardour she cut
off one of her breasts and laid it as an offering at the foot of
the Lord Buddha, who then prophesied as follows: "In the two
"thousand four hundredth year after the establishment of my religion,
"this place known as Mandalay will become avast city under the
" name of Ratnapuram (Yatanabon) and thou," addressing the
ogress, " as a descendent of the great Mahasammato (Mahathama-
"da), shalt be the king of that city and shall have the means of great-
" ly promoting my religion." Thus the Great Buddha, who had over-
come the five Mara and possessed intuitive knowledge, like unto
Sakko [Indra or Thi(n)gyaJ foresaw the royal city with its moat,
palace, pagodas, temples, and monasteries. Thus did Mindon, the
possessor of numerous while elephants and celestial weapons, endow-
ed with all the virtues and accomplishments of a king, and moreover
the subject of five distinct prophecies, became the founder of the
city of Mandalay.
While he was still a Prince, Mindon Min had many dreams, all
of which pointed to Mandalay hill. He dreamt that he was on a high,
many-tiered tower, almost reaching to the clouds and there took to
his bosom a holy monk, who was a diligent propagator of religion.
Also that he took two women by the hand, named Baw and Ma,
one on each side, and mounted a white elephant of tlie colour of
molten silver. Also on Friday, the second waning of the moon of
Tasaungman 1218, at 3 o'clock in the morning, he dreamed that he
went to Mandalay hill and saw there the house of a woman, named
Mi Htun Aung, far advanced with child. He entered her house
6
4a
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. U.
and from it saw hov fair vere the Yankintaung luU and the KuUa-
pyog6n, and he saw that Mandalav hill was all overgrown with
sweet-scented gra£s. Some of this scented sx^ss a man nai
Nga Tin plucked and gave to him and said thai, if the myat^
elephants and horses were fed on this grass, they would be free from
disease and all other evils.
When the Ministers heard these dreams, whic-h were told to ihem
informal audience, they said that in consequence of the great power
and might of His Majesty the nais had seni him these dreams to
show that Mandalay was a fit site for building a new capital, and
that the lime for doing so had arrived.
The Prime Minister, the Pakhangyi Myoza^ held numerous con-
ferences with Sadaws, PonnaSt the heir-apparent, and the chief
Queen, and it was eventually decided that ancient records, the Bud-
dha's prophecy, the Nga Hmangan-gnvompadi, the sayings of
rishts, sakkos {nats), and the Ceylon puroms, all pointed to this
spot as one whereon a king born on a day of the week represented
by a lion (Tuesday, Maung I, win's birthday^ should reign, and to
the year, the two thousand four hundredth of the s&sanam (the
religious era), as the fitting time.
Just about this time certain doggerel verses were put about,
which all indicated that the choice of site and time for a new city
were favourable and the sanis taken were interpreted by the Sava-
daws as full of good omen. [To seek signs by sanis a few persons
are selected who have to sanctify themselves by incarnation and
prayer. They are then sent out by night in different directions to
certain parts of the town, usually to the south. When (hey arrive
at fixed places, under a house, at a street comer, or in the middle
of the road, thev wait until they hear some one speak. Whatever
is said is carefully written down and taken to the person who sent
them out. All the utterances thus recorded are considered together
and experts decide whether their import is favourable or not. J
The King therefore finally decided on this site and gave orders
for the calculation of the measurements and the determination of a
lucky day for the foundation of the city. The Council, after long
consultation, fixed all the dimensions and selected Friday, the 5th
iabyigyaw of Tabodw^ 1218 B. E. (13th February 1857) as the aus-
picious day to commence the building of the city and palace. The
following officials were told off to superintend the works and were
sent to Mandalay, — the Myedaung Myoza Tlumat IVungyi Thado
mingyi-maha-minhla-kyawthu, the Pakhan Wungyi Thado-ming)"!-
maha-minhla-sithu, ihe Dai ng Wundaui' Maha-minhla-lhirithunow
fjK-Khampat IVungyi}, the Thittaw ii^un Minkyaw-minhla-sithu,
43
the Namkfe IVun Minhla-mindin Kyawthu, the Sayegyi Minhla-mln-
din-yaza, the Atwinsaye Minhla-mindin-kyaw, the Atwinsaye Min-
hla-thiri-yaza (nuwtf;r-Kinwun Mingyi) and the Ahmya Minhla-thin-
I khaya. Mandalay hill was fixed upon as the point from which
to start the site of the city and town which were mapped out as
follows : the boundaries were, on the soulh the Zaunggalaw bank,
measuring on that side 500 tas ; on the west the river Irrawaddy
wiihin a space of 1,600 tas so much land as was level was to be
taken up ; on the east by the Aungbinlfe tank , and on the north
the Mahananda tank. In the month of April the King advanced
money, bullocks, seed-grain, and all other requisites to the owners of
land between Avaand Mandalay and Mandalay and Madaya, whether
Government servants, officials, soldiers, or ancestral possessors, to
enable them to cultivate the soil, and in the same month, on the
auspicious day, thi: King and Queen received a formal blessing
from the sayadaws, as had been done when his great-grandfather
Bodaw founded Amarapura in 1 145 B.E. {1783 A.D.) and when his
uncle Bagyidaw founded Ava for the fourth time in 1185 B.E.
(1834), and Tharrawaddi, his father, rc-foundcd Amarapura in 1203
B.E. (1841). The King took the title of ThiniJawaya-wizeya-nan-
daya-thapandita Mahadhammayazadiyaza and the chief Queen took
the title of Thlripawaya-mahayaxeinda-dipati-yatana Dewi.
The following month the white elephant called Hnitpa-pyitsaya
Nagayaza died. The body was kept three days and was then placed
in a large white open cart covered with while umbrellas. All its
harness, adornments, and utensils were solemnly carried in front of
it and proceeded from the west gale of the palace to the Alawigate
of the city and thence to the burial-ground and was there burnt with
great ceremony, according to custom. The bones were collected
and placed in large jars, which were buried between the walls of the
Mahawezayanthi Pagoda, and over them a tomb was erected.
The image of the elephant also was carved and placed in a building
with a spire and the title was written up over the doorway, in order
to preserve the memory of the royal animal. This noted white
elephant was brought to the capital in the reign of Bodawpaya, the
King's great-grandfather, and was highly esteemed and respected
and worshipped by the Burmese.
In June 1857 the King, the chief Queen, and the whole Court
moved in great procession from Amarapura to Mandalay- On the
way, at a halt, a fire broke out in the carap of the Eingshemin and
to shelter huts were burnt before it was put out. The fire began
in the hut of*Ma Paw, one of the minor wives, and the astrologers
declared that it was a good omen in order to please the King, The
people, however, thought otherwise, for the removal had caused great
44
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. U.
distress and discontent. They were forced lo leave their houses,
gardens, and lands in order to settle in the city and no one dared
utter a word of complaint for fear of punishment.
At Mandalay the King established himself in a temporary palace
until the large building now existing should be built and went out
frequently on the female elephant called Tein-u Layaung to inspect
the works round the city and to assign lo the various olricials sites
for their houses. When the temporary kyaungs were built, the Tha-
thanahaing, sayadaws and pongyis, to the number of about 500,
also marched in great procession, with the images of Gautama and
i)\Q pitakas from Amarapura lo Mandalay, and settled in their new
establishments. The images and pitakas (the Buddhist scriptures)
were placed on platforms and carried on the shoulders of men, the
images under the shadeof eight golden umbrellas, the/iVajta^ under
the shadow of six. The chief sadaw had four white umbrellas
and each of the $00 rahaus two. The King and Queen, the Royal
mother, the heir-apparent, and all the Princes and Ministers received
them at the Ywe-daw-yu gate. The bahoyin or campanile was soon
finished and Mindon Mln then asked the monks whether it would be
fitting before the completion of the palace to hang up the large
drum and bell according to custom, so as to give the time to tne
city. The Archbishop agreed and a bell and drum were therefore
immediately hung up.
In April 1858 a mission arrived from America with a letter from
the President of the United States to the King, expressing a desire
lo cultivate friendly relations with Burma, and some of the officials
of the Hlutdaw were sent to receive them and to conduct them to
the Residency set apart for such visitors. The party was well re-
ceived by the King.
In May the walls of the palace and the palace itself were complet-
ed and on Friday, Kmon Lahyigya-m 5lh (May ist) at 11 in the
morning, there was a violent thunderstorm and the palace spire was
struck by lightning. The pyathat had been built under the per-
sonal superintendence of the Myadaung Wungyi and the Kinp
addressed him and other Ministers assembled in the Hall of Audience
and stated that this was a good omen and that he would be \\c'
torious over all his enemies. Among the poorer classes, however,
it was looked on as a portent of evil and increased the discontent.
When the palace and the walls were completed the King and the
chief Queen, according to ancient custom, proceeded from the tempo-
rary palace in a Yatana Than^in, or State palanquin, in formal
procession to the new golden palace and ascended to the Myenan,
QT Hall of Audience by the great eastern stairs. When he had
CHAP.
HISTORY.
thus formally taken possession, he made a number of presents to
old men and women who had been in ihe royal service and gave them
permission to take as much money as they could lift with their two
hands from a heap of rupees poured out for the purpose. He also
made considerable offerings To potigyis and to poor people.
A fine white elephant was caught by the Thaungthwut Saivhva,
Maha-mawreri Wuntha-thiha-dhammayaza, at a place called Thaya-
gon-Paukbin Aing-u, near Thfc-6n, on the eastern bank of the
Tholawadi (the Cliindwin river) in the Kyiwun district. The King
sent the Myothit IVuudauk to bring the elephant with befitting
ceremony to Mandalay. It was shipped on a large barge and on its
arrival at Amarapura the Crown Prince and the chief Ministers and
officials were sent to escort it to Mandalay On its arrival at the
city, it was received with great pTsl's and Tejolcings and the whole
population turned out to receive the elephant as they did in the
time of Bodawpaya. When it arrived at the north side of the palace
the King himself came out to meet it and conferred on the elephant
the title of Moyeya-pyilsaya Nagayaza, and cities, villages, gold, and
silver utensils, attendants, and officials were assigned to the beast's
service according to ancient custom The Thaungthwut Chief was
promoted to the first rank of Saivbiva and received many presents
and privileges, and great rewards' were conierred on all the men who
had helped to capture the elephant.
In January 1859 the Mal6n Prince Thiri-mahadhammayaza, the
eldest son of the King by the Myauk-saungdaw Queen, married the
Salin^ryl Princess, the eldest daughter of the Eingshemin. The
ceremony was conducted with great splendour and the couple were
assigned apartments in the north-west quarter of the palace.
The King sent a number of offerings to the potigyis in Ceylon
and in return they presented to him a sii-^dau^ or tooth of Gautama,
dattaw, trnvedaiv, relics and hairs of the Buddha, images, models
of banyan trees, monasteries, pagodas, caves, and religious buildings.
The Yenangyaung Ativimi^un was sent to receive these on their
arrival at Malun and they were brought up in royal boats. On their
arrival at Sagaing they were kept there for about a month and four
days at Amarapura to enable the people to worship them. They were
then brought on with great pomp and ceremony to Mandalay. The
King himself waited at the eastern gate of the palace and carried
the sw^datu and the dattaiv with his own hands to a highly deco-
rated building which had been erected specially for their reception
to the west of the hahoyin, or campanile ; the remaining sacred
things were carried in by the Princes and were deposited in the
palace. The King personally superintended ami only retired when
everything had been properly set up.
46 THE UPPER BURMA (lAZKTTEER, [CHAP. H.
On the 13th December of that year (1859) Nattaw iabyigytiw,
4ih, lilt: AJcnaminadav: Queen gave birth to a daughter Supayalat^
ifcrrwards the wife of King Thibaw.
In January i860 the King and the chief Queen paid a State visit
X*s Kangaung to the east of Mandalay. where a temporary palace
had betn erected. At the same time the Queen Dottas;er went to
worship at the Arakan pagoda.
In the same monih ihe Zaion Wungyi, who was Mindon Min's
Commander-in-Chief in 1853, died and was buried with great pomp.
In April the King and the chief Queen paid a visit to the Manaw
Yamun garden. [These movements are chronicled because the King
so seldom left the palace. J On his return he ordered the Myadaung
IKkw^^'; to build a large tectum with a spire on Mandalay HilU
Under this tasaung was set up a huge image called Shwe Yat-taw, in
the shape and stature of Gautama Buddha, fashioned of wood and
gilt all over. The Fluddha stands erect, pointing with his finger to-
wards the city of Mandalay and at his feel kneels his disciple,
Ananda, as one who should ask " Where is the most convenient and
pleasant place 10 build a city ?" The Buddha in reply points to the
palace and signifies that it shall last for ever, from generation to
generation. [This figure was burnt down in 1892.] A covered way
01 saungdan was built from the foot of the hill up to these fig^ures
and was carried on to the pagoda called Myat-saw Nyinaung on the
summit. The construction was superintended by the Magwe tf'«w
gyif ihe Myadaung /K««^^!, and the Pakhan IVungyi. Asaungtfan
was also built on the western side of the hill.
In June, at the beginning of Lent, 60 candidates for ordination
were examined in the MyenaUy or Hall of Audience, by the Tha-
ihannbaing and the saiiau's in the presence of the King, the chief
Queen, and the whole body of Ministers. Immediately afterwards
the King's sons, the Sagu Prince, the Makon Prince, the .Vyaung-
yan, Monnyin, MyingonHaing, and N^ayane Princes, with 60 attend-
ants, were admitted as neophytes in the sacred order of the yellow
robe, in a large building which had been erected for the purpose in
front of the Afyetjiitt. The investiture was marked with great cere-
mony and rejoicings and the King presented a nniltitude of offer-
ings to the monks. Again, at the end of Lent, in October, 350
postulants from Mandalay, Amarapura, and Sagaing were assem-
bled and examined in the same place by ihe Arc-nbishopin the pre-
sence of the King and Queen as before.
In May 1861, after a short stay with all his queens at the tem-
porary palace to the north-east of the city, the King specially ap-
pointed four officers — The Maha-minhla-mingaung-thihathuforthe
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
4i7
I
I
I
I
I
I
east, the Maha-minc'.in-kyaw for the south, the Maha-thiy&-ihinkaya
for the west, and ihe Thittaw IVun for the north to be Collectors or
Revenue Officers for ihe receipt of the thathameda-X.7i:^. This vas a
new institution. Previous to King Mindon all the rulers of Burma
had assigned districts, towns, or villages to the Queens, Princes,
Princesses, and officials for their support and according to their rank
and services. They drew the whole revenue for themselves. Un-
der the new regulation, with tht; exception of the Shan States and
the tracts assigned to the Eingshemm, the thnthameda^ or ro per
cent, capitation -tax, was the only cess authorized, and the revenue
collectors were especially enjoined not to oppress the people, or to
collect any sums beyond this thathameda. The money was paid
into the treasury and disbursed in the shape of monthly salaries to
the Queens. Princes, Princesses, officials, body-servants, and troops.
The cliief Queen was excepted from this system of monthly pay,
like the Eingshemiftt but otherwise the system of general taxation
and regular monthly salaries was regularly established.
In July a thein, a sacred kiosk or pavilion, and a row of sayats,
or rest-houses, were built under Mandalay hill and were consecrated
by the King in person. At the same time he gave presents to 850
Brahmins.
About this time disturbances broke out on the borders of the Shan
Slates, created by the Tawng Pen'j;(Taungbaing) Saivbwa^ who had
been the first of the Saivhwas to make his submission to the King
in 1853 at Shwebo. The Yivalatywebo was sent to repress them
with 50 men. The Tawng Peng i'rtTi'^rt-fl was shot and the troubles
then came to an end. At the same time the Kachins, who had been
causing much mischief in the Mong Mit (Momeik) State, were sup-
pressed by the Myauk'tvinhmu^ who was despatched with 600 men
for the purpose.
In July also there was a great ear-boring- feast in honour of the
piercing of the ears of the Eingshemtn's daughter, the Sampenago
Princess Thinkinsana-dc-wi, the Taunghnyo Princess Thiripada-dewi
and other children, the daughters of minor wives. This was held
with great pomp at the residence of the Crown Prince, and the King
dedicated a pagoda at the foot of Mandalay Hill. This was called
Mahalawkamazin and the foundation had been laid when the city of
Mandalay was begun. In this pagoda were desposited 14 small
gold pagodas, studded with precious stones, one mo-gyo pagoda
{mO'gyo is an alloy of gold and brass), six small plain gold pagodas,
four silver pagodas, 32 relics of Gautama, two teeth of the Buddha
in a shell box, and a silver box filled with banyan leaves. On its
dedication, according to custom, the King placed a golden A/j', or
4«
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. f CHAP. It.
umt>relU, on the summit and there were great popular festivities after
the Cf^rcmony.
In May 1862 the Th6nzt- Prince, Mahathu-thiridhammayaza was
married to the Yanaun<(myin Princess Thiriseiktawadi, a daughter
of the Eingshemittt and there was much popular rejoicing on the oc-
casion.
In the latter part of the year Major Arthur Phayre came to Man-
dalay to conclude a treaty. He was honourably received and on the
ronclusinn of the treaty the King presented him with a gold sal^ce
of 1 2 strings, and also gave a saiiri of nine strings to Mr. Edwards,
the Collector of Customs, besides presents to the other oflficers of
the mission.
In March 1863 the sflifixa' Sandiraa-bhi-thiri-tazu-pawara-maha-
dama-yazadiyaza-guru, who had been the King's teacher died in
the celebrated San kyaung, at the foot of Mandilay hill. The King
undertook his obsequies, which were conducted on a very splendid
scale. The sadn-x was burnt on a funeral pyre erected in the en-
closure of the San kyaung in the presence of the King, the chief
Queen, and the whole of the Royal Family, together with the Officers
of Stale. The San kyaung was then handed ov-er to the Pyi sada-x.
the Myauknandaw Queen's sadaic.
The King's canal, the Yatana-nadi, was finished about this time.
It lies to the north-east of Mandalay and receives its waters from the
Nfeda lake, which is fed from Singu through Madaya. The moat
and the canals within the palace walls were supplied from this Yata*
na-nadi canal, and on its banks the King had a lemporary palace
built, whither he often made pleasure trips in the royal boats with
his queens, the royal children, and the State officials. The King also
ordered many of the Ministers and town ofTicers to enclose gardens
and make plantations on the waste land to the east of this canal.
This was accordingly done and the fruit and other produce was re-
gularly given to the monks of Mandalay. \A list of these gardens
is given elsewhere.]
In March 1863 the King's son, the Th6nzfe Prince, without any
previous notice, rode off from Mandalay to Tauntj-ngu with only
10 attendants. On his arrival at Taung-ngu he was sent on by the
Deputy Commissioner to Rangoon. The Prince's escapade was not
heard of for four days, but even then it was not known whither he
had gone from Mandalay. When the King heard that he was in
Rangoon, he sent a special steamer for him with officials to persuade
him to return. The Th6nz^ Prince afier some time agreed to coroe
back and, on his return, was placed under the surveillance of the
Eirtgshemin. This Prince was the eldest of those put to death by
CHAP.
King Thibaw in 1879. [It does not appear what the Burman
chronicle means by the " handing over" of the Prince to the Eing-
skemin, but apparently he was only watched, not imprisoned-]
In April at the time of the water festival, the Burmese New Year,
the King and chief Queen had their heads washed according toancicnt
custom, but with more than ordinary ceremonial. They went out in
solemn procession to the southern garden and there gave alms to 216
aged poor, Rs. 20 to each person. On their return the King and the
chief Queen breakfasted in state on I he throne, Bamnyathana, the
white umbrella called Mananhaya being throughout the meal held
over their heads. After this ceremonial repast the whole of the
Royal Family, the Ministers of State, and subordinate officials were
feasted in the //;«(7««a«rf23£' (the crystal reception-room). [This
new year's breakfast was, however, an annual feast.]
In May, an exceedingly fine ruby, weighing 1 tical, was presented
to the King by the Myo6k of Mong Mit and MOnglang (Momcik
and Mohlaing) and was carried in state to the palace. At the same
time the Myelat Wun presented from the Shan States three fine
elephants named Seingale, Naungthaing, and Mcnangu. Other
eli'phants were also presented by Ngwedaung, Kayingale, Ncmyo-
thilon-yanaung. These elephants were named Maunggale, Sitepan,
Ngwepong. Shwe Chein, Seiktingale, Hpumaung, and Mt:nanywe.
About this time there was a disturbance at Yawng Hwe (Ny-
aungywe) in the Shan Slates, which was suppressed by the Myothit
Wundaukt the Monfe Taibohmu, Mingyi Mahamindin-Setnu, to
whom the King despatched 1,200 men for the purpose.
In November the Mekkhara Prince, Thiri-mahathudhammayaza,
married the Pin Princess, Thiri-thukatha-dewi, with great ceremonial.
Both the Prince and the Princess were children of the King, but they
were half-brother and sister. The Mekkhara Prince was one of
those killed in 1879 by King Thibaw.
In February of the following year (1864) the King's daughter,
the Kanni Princess, Thiri-thusarida-dewi, was married to the eldest
son of the Eingshemin, the Padeln Prince Maha-lhiridhammayaza.
In March 1864 the King inaugurated ten hospitals built at his
expense for old and sick people. To each of these hospitals, or
alms-houses, three Burmese doctors were attached ; another hospi-
tal was also built by the Kin^ to the south-east of the palace, which
was put under the charge of Doctor Marfels, a German Physician
in the employment of His Majesty.
In July Mr. William Wallace came to Mandalay and presented
the King with a golden telescope studded with 542 small diamonds.
The King gave him i.ioo teak logs as a return present.
50
THR UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER.
[chap. II.
In August the M.igwu and Myadaung IVungyis were re-called
from Sagyintanng, whither thcv had been sent to excavate a lar^
block of marble for an image of Gautama, They had extracted the
block, but were unable to convey it to Mandalay. The King there-
fore sent the Laungshe Wungyi, ihe Hkamhpat U'undauk, the
Pab6 Wuu, the Padeing IVnn, and the Tautigdive Bo to arrange for
its removal. Two flats with the steamer AUrtan Sekkya were taken
to the spot. The loading was effected and the block was towed up
al the height of the rains. When the marble had reached Mon-
ywa, the King sent a number of sudavs, pongyis, and officials on
board of the flats to receive it. The flats were towed by steamers,
on board of which were numerous bands of music. When the
marble block reached EngOn, a gun was fired and the flat was
lowed along the recently constructed channel of the Shweta chaung.
It was finally loaded on a huge car. which was dragged by 10,000
men in 13 days to the foot of Mandalay hill, under the supervision
of the Eingshcmin, the If'ungyis, and all the chief officials. There
it was hewn by the sculptors working night and day under a spe-
cially built tectum, and pTtrs and festival dances were carried on
without Intermission until it was set up in the building constructed
for its reception. The King and the Royal household paid several
visits during the progress of the work and, at the final ceremony,
stayed in the temporary palace called Nammepontha at the foot of
Mandalay hill. The sculptors were royally rewarded and fed
throughout At the King's cost. Near the gigantic ima^e were built
33 sayats, or rest-houses, for the accommodation of tfie pious, the
work being superintended by the Royal ofllicials. The King also
paid a visit to the Maha Lawkamazin pagoda, decked it with lights,
and fed 600 necessitous persons, men and women. During his stay
at the temporary palace the King sent every morning to the Maha
Lawkamazin pagoda and to the marble image quantities of tbc
food called 7'hinbukto-x (the food of Shin Gautama). This was
carried regularly in procession with bands of music and Royal offi-
cials accompanying it. The rejoicings over the setting up of the
great image lasted many days.
In November of the same year the Shwepyi Bo was sent with a
force of 1,000 men, under the command of the Mong Nai ^Moni)
Sikke, Ming\*i Mahanawrata, to suppress disturbances on the Hsen
Wi (Theinni) borders. About the same time the Mawk Mai
(Maukmt:) Saiebwa (the so-called Kolnn or nine-fathom StJtrb7cii\
and the Ming6n Paleiksa escaped from Mandalay and made their
way to the Mawk Mai Stale, where they raised a rebellion and
marched as far as Mong Nai with a large body of men. They did
a great deal of mischiel and the King sent the Myothit li^undaui
CHAP. 11.]
HISTORY.
to take charge of Mong Nai as Tatbohnm and march thence with
a force of 2,100 men. The P6ndawpyit ^t?, the Kindat Bo^ and
the Lelwi Kyaun^/?(?, with 2,300 men and 20 elephants, were also
sent to the Shan Stales to carr)- the artillery and ammunition. This
force was under the command of the Ashe Winhmu, Thirivawun,
and started from Mandalay. The Mawk MaJ Saivbwa and Ming6n
Paleiksa, however, could make no stand against such a force and
fled with all their relatives and following beyond the Salween to
Mong Mali.
In Februar)' 1865 the King, the chief Queen, and the whole
Court again went to the Namniep6ntha temporary palace at the foot
of Mandalay hill to watch the chiselling of the face of the great
marble image, which had only been commenced after the setting up
of the block. The work look some time and, while it was being
carried on, the King had fresh copies made of the Bitagat-thonbon
(the Three Baskets of the Law), the old books having somewhat fal-
len into decay. There were upwards of 200 fasciculi of palm-leaves,
and each of these was placed separately in a box and conveyed
with great ceremony from the Royal Palace to the Bitagattaik, or
theological library, a building which had been specially prepared for
them near the King's temporary residence at the foot ol Mandalay
hill. At the same time the King ordered the repair of the Mu river
canal from Myinkwa taung In Myedu district to the Mahananda
lake at Shwebo. This had been first dug by the orders of the
King's great grandfather Alaungpaya, and that monarch had gone
by boat along it on his return from the conquest of Manipur, King
Mindon, besides repairing this work, ordered the people of Shwebo
Myedu, Hkanthani, Ngayane, Thontabin, Pylnsala, and Tabayin to
dig a canal from the Mahananda lake as far as the Sagaing district.
This labour was placed under the supervision of the Magwe Wun'
gyi, the Myauk It'un/tmu, the P6ppa IVundauk, the Shwebo IVun,
and the local officials. The Eingshcmin built two large brick rest-
houses on the banks of this canal, near Silhu, and 3 miles apart the
one from the other.
Meanwhile the King with his own hands planted a number of
Ba-Qidihin, or banian trees, within the enclosure of the large marble
image. These trees had been specially brought from Ceylon and
many other countries. The planting of trees was carried on amidst
the clash of bands and the firing of artillery. At last in May the
King went in solemn procession to the place where the image was
and showed the sculptors himself what alterations were to be made
In the expression of ihe face. Ten guns were fired on this occasion
and there was a great feast and many offerings were made to the
monks of all grades and the sculptors and masons were richly re-
53 THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. 11.
warded. After the ceremony the King returned again to the royal
palace.
The following month His Majesty went out to the temporary
palace in the Mingala garden and, according to ancient custom,
there ploughed the fields under a salute of three guns. After the
Kin^ had ploughed, the Crown Prince, the Ministry, and all the other
officials also ploughed a few furrows. The ceremony terminated
with an elaborate feast.
In this same month of June 1865, a number of the Princes
took a formal oath of allegiance to the King in the Byitaik. The
Eingshemin was present with the King and the words of the oath
were spoken before the image of Gautama, the Princes repeating
them after a thandawstn. They were to the effect that they would
neither do nor support anything against the welfare of the King,
that they would drink no intoxicating liquor, or palm-toddy, and
that they would eat no beef. The Princes who took the oath were
the Malon, the Myingon, the Sagu, the Mekkhara, the Padein, the
Myingondalng, the Wuntho, the Chabin, the Pinlfe, the Katha, the
Thfelin, Shwegu, and Maington Minthas. After this ceremony the
King and the chief Queen, in the Hall of Audience, admitted 53
young men into the Sacred Order, presenting them with the pre-
scribed yellow robes. This was done in the presence of 13
sadaws^ At the same time 216 />(?fl«jj (Brahmins) received pre-
sents of money and clothing (216 is twice the sacred number of
beads on the rosary, no doubt one for each bead on the rosaries of
the King and Queen). The King Had been keeping fast up to
this time in preparation for Lent and his fast had been shared by
1,245 officials and palace servants. These were now presented
with articles of dress. On the conclusion of the ceremonial the
King once more returned within the city walls.
In October 1865, a salute of three guns was fired in honour of
the striking of the first Burmese coin in the royal mint, and a pro-
clamation was issued directing the use of these coins throughout
the King's dominions. The mint stood within the palace stockade,
immediately to the north of the bahosin, the central campanile.
In November the Sinlin Princess had her ears bored. She was
the King's daughter by the Linbin Queen and had been adopted
as her daughter by the Myauknandaw Queen. She was looked
upon as the King's mother, re-born upon earth again. For this
reason she was called Tabindaing, a title given by Buddhist Kings
to those whom they loved most, and implying that the bearer is the
first favourite. Her title was Thuthiya-myatswa-yatana. The ear-
boring was conducted with the utmost magnificence in the Hman"
nandaw, the crystal palace, amidst general feasting and rejoicing.
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
S3
At the same time the following Royal Princesses had their ears bored,
— the Taungiha, Kyuiuiaung, Hkutywa, Kyannyat, Hlihlaing, Saw-
hla, Momeik.and Hini;aiiaw A/iiUha7f)is,as \\'t:\\ ss ihc /^^r'ngshemtn' s
daughter, the Ailazayathein Princess, each according to their rank
and dignity. The King and the chief Queen viere present, dress-
ed in their royal robes and seated on a gnlden couch of sttile, and
near them, seated on a gilded couch, were the Queen Dowager
and the anni of the King and Queen. When the fortunate hour
had arrived, a gun was fired and at the same moment all the while
umbrellas were opened out. The Hmannandaw was specially
fitted on this occasion with the ancient royal furniture, called Min-
gundato, made of gold studded with jewels, and the roi^m was richly
decorated for the ceremony. Pwes were carried on all day and all
night through. Not only were offerings made to the Thathatiabaing,
the sadawSt and all the pongyis of the royal city, but all the
Queens, Princes, Princesses, olTicials, foreigners, Chinese, Maho-
metans, Brahmins, and chief residents of the city received pre-
sents in honour of the occasion.
In February 1866 the King with all his queens and establishment
went to the temporary palace at the foot of Mandalay hill and
worshipped at the Mahakamazin pagoda before the great image
which had been brought from Sagyin taung. At this time the
Thathanahaing Sada7vgyi died and was buried with great honours.
As the remains passed by to the funeral pyre, the King and Queen
came out in state from the temporary palace to do them honour,
and the Eingshetniji, the Princes, and the Ministers of State fol-
lowed the train to the place of burning. At the Burmese new year
the King, according to his regular custom, went to the Mingala gar-
den palace and ploughed the fields with all his Court.
In April a great fire broke out in the west of the town in the
Tulukyanaung quarter in the house of Maung Lat, one of the
King's servants Before it had burnt itself out the Kyunhtektan,
the Moat road, the Thfetan, the Byincinggyitan, the Sagaingtan,
or Merchant street, and the Watan up to the Thayfe bazaar were
completely destroyed and upwards of 3,800 houses were burnt, with
great loss of property.
At the beginning of Lent the KJng entertained the people who
had kept fast with him at the Maha Lawkamazin Pagoda and the
great marble image and ordered his Ministers and officials and
rich people of the town also to entertain them each in his
turn. This was, however, put a sudden end to by the rebeih'on in
the city. The Myingon and Mying6ndaing Princes had conceived
the idea that their uncle, the Eittgj/iemtn, had treated thp/rj ill and
54
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER, [ CHAP. II.
they resolved to put him to death. They consulted astrologers to
determine a favourable day for the crime and arranged to fire a cer-
tain pan of the town as a signal to one another and to their fol-
lowers to make a sudden attack on the palace. On the 5lh
labyigy-i' of Nayon 1228 B. E. (i6lh June 1866) the sky became
as red as hlood and there was a violent storm and several houses
were struck by lightning in the north-east of the city. Two days
later the Princes set about their work.. At noon the Eingshemin was
deliberating with a number of the Ministers in an open building near
the Hluida-w about this very plot. He had been informed of the
conspiracy some lime before, but had taken no immediate notice of
the warning. Now, just at the moment when it was being debated
whether the two conspirators should be arrested or not, the signal
fire was kindled in the HawgOn quarter, and the Myingon and
Myingdndaing Princes with their following, all armed with guns and
drawn swords, rushed into the palace, the one through the eastern
gate the other by the southern. The Mying6ndaing rushed towards
the Council Hall crying " Save me, Save me, " and behind him came
the Myingon. This was part of the plot. The idea was to sug-
gest that they had quarrelled and that the Myingondaing was seek-
mg the protection of the Etugsfiemin, In this way they hoped to
prevent the Crown Prince from taking to flight on the first alarm.
The Myadaung Wungyi was the first man met. He was greatly
alarmed at the sight of men with naked swords within the palace
limits, a thing that had never been known before, and still more to
see them headed by two Princes of the blood. He advanced to en-
quire the cause of the uproar and was immediately cut down by one
of the Princes' followers. The Eingshemin saw this and fled from
the zayat towards the IHiUdaw for protection. Just as he reached
the steps, however, he was killed by Hpadi, one of the Princes*
followers. At his heels came the Myineondaing, who cut oflf his
uncle's head, and rushed with it to the Myingon shouting Aung'
dawmoopyi — " We've conquered, we've done it." The Laungshe
IVungyi, the Myauk IVinhmtt, the Le Wun^ the Taung JVun, the
Nakhan P^a-agyihrnu, the Ngayani and Hkawthonni Myooks, and
other officials were cut down and left for dead. The Pakhan IVun-
gyi, the Myothil IVundatik, the P6ppa Wundauk, the Kyauk-ve
IVundauk, the Thittaw Afyorvun, the Myotha Myowun, the Kve
IVuHy the Sin IVun and some others succeeded in effecting their
escape. The Malon Prince and his brother, the Pyinsi, as well
as the Sagu Prince, had already been seized and murdered at the
south gate of the palace.
The rebels then made for the temporary palace to kill the King
also. Fortunately the uproar hrfd been heard and the Ashe Win-
CHAP. U.]
HISTORY.
55
hmu, the Kin IVun^ and Taungd-xe Bo
out with a few
\mu, me ivin ivun, ana launga-xe uo came out witn a tew men
and met the rebels face to face. The Kin Wun iinmedialeiy seized
the Myingondaing and there was a violent struggle, but the IVuu
was stabbed from behind. '1 he others also fought vigorously,
but they were outnumbered and the whole of the royal party were
killed. This diversion, however, gave the King lime to escape, with
his family and attendants, 50 in all. Thuv leit the temporary palace
by the western gate and itiade for the city. Outside the gate the
King came upon the Shwcdasw6 Bo> Maung Paik Ku who had
been specially posted there by the Myin^on prince with orders to
kill the King. Of this the King knew nothing. He recognized him
however, and said " Nga Paik Ku carry me to the palace." The
Bo came forward and as he did so the Mckkhara and Chinbin
Princes saw a da in his hands and took it from hiiu. The King then
climbed on his back and they set out to the palace. The chief
Queen was carried by Kalabyo-thinnyut Saya, Maung Chaung, and
the Princes and the household followed close behind. On their way
they came upon a pony belonging to the Anauk IVun, Maung Tattu,
the brother of the Tadaingshe Queen, who was the mother of the
Nyaung Van and NyaungOk Princes. This the King mounted and
ihe party reached the palace in safety.
The Myingfin Prince came with the Eingshemtn^s head to the
temporary palace and sent for the Yenangyaung Aiwimvun, who
was brought before him surrounded by men with drawn das. The
Myingon held up his uncle's head and said : " Look at this ; this is
the head of the man you thought would be kins^." The AtTvinwun
was afraid and said : " Are you going to kill me also ? The Myingon
Prince said : *' No, not if you will swear allegiance to me." This the
Yenangyaung AtTvintvun accordins^ly did, swearing by the Kutho-
daw Pagoda, which the King had recently built near the temporary
palace.
Meanwhile the Mying6ndaing Prince, after killing the three
officials mentioned above, had been searching for the King in the
inner apartments and now burst into the main room, with a sword
in each hand, shouting " the King is nowhere to be found; he has
escaped us." The Myingon forthwith placed the Yenangyaung
A/Tvitfuutn in charge of the temporary palace and, picking out 40
of his most trusted adherents, set out with his brother to the palace.
They entered the city by the eastern gate and made their way to
the Hiutdaiv, where they tried to force open the Taga-ni by firing
repeated volleys at it. In this attempt, however, they were soon
checked by the Mekkhara Prince and a party of officials who opened
fire on them from the top of the steps of the Myenan, or Hall of
Audience. The Myingondaing then suggested to his brother that
56
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
they should smear the ///utdun' vrhh earth-oil and set fire to it.
The fire could not fail to spread to the palace and the King would
have to fly for his life and would be sure to fall into iheir hands.
The Myingon Prince, however, refused to allow this, because their
mother was in the palace and might be injured in the scuflle. Short-
ly after, the Taungshweya Queen, by order of His Majesty, appeared
at the top of the stockade, surrounded by guards, and endeavoured
to persuade her suns lo retire. They stubbornly refused to listen
to her entreaties and continued firing into the palace.
In the meantime the Crown Prince's troops to the number of 200
marched on the temporary palace in search of their master. The
Myingon's men in charge of the place immediately took to flight
without resistance and followed the Princes to the palace. The
^j'«^5/ii?/«/H'j men after a fruitless search followed up and entered
the city by the northern gate and soon came upon the two Princes
close to the lllutdaiv. They opened fire and killed several of the
rebel Bos and the Myingon and MyingondaJng after a short resis-
tance retired to the west of the palace to the Afiaukydn^ or
women's court. From this point as night fell they again began to
fire upon the palace. The Shwedasw6 Bo^ Maung Paik Ku (who
had carried the King into the palace), now came out and made his
way to the Myingon Prince at the Tuwya pagoda, near the AnanJiydrt.
The Prince asked him whether he had seen the King and, when he
heard what had happened, killed the Bo on the spot for disobe-
dience of orders. Firing went on all night, but in the morning the
King's troops had collected in such numbers that the Anaukyon
was nearly surrounded, and the rebels fell back on the river. They
found the King's steamer, the Yenan Sekkya, there and took posses-
sion, got up steam, and went down the river to Myingyan. There
they seized the \Vu7i and his officers and collected all the arms and
ammunition they could tind. They also laid hands on a qunntity of
tkathameda money which was ready for despatch 10 Mandalay, and,
after having taken on a number of fighting men, weighed anchor and
went on to Ycnangyaung. They made a prisoner of the Yenan-
gyaung Myoihugyi, who was a son of the Atmniouut and having seiz-
ed money and arms as before, steamed on to MalOn, where they did
the same thing. Afttr staying at Mal6nafew days t hey returned to
Myingyan and stayed there for about a month plundering the river*
side and other villages. The King mf-anwhile put the Yenangyaung
AiwittTi'un in command of the iroups who were collected to operate
against the rebels. The AlTvinwun first of all made his way to
Salin and Sinbyugyun, where he concerted measures for the arrest
of the Princes and then proceeded to attack Myingyan. The
Myingon Prince put the Afyof/tugyi in the bows of his steamer and
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
57
bade him call out that he would be the first to fall if fire was opened
on the steamer. Soon after the rebels' steamer started down the
river, whicli had not been expected. The Atwimvun pursued, but
the Yenan Sskkya was too fast for him, and all he could do was to
pursue her to the frontier and force the Princes to take refuge in
British lerritory, where they were interned at Rangoon.
The Taungshweya Queen was now thrown into prison by the
King on suspicion of having had a knowledge of the projects of her
sons and remained there for a long time.
After remaining some time in Rangoon, the Mying6n Prince
made his way to Kyetbogyi in Karenni and thence made raids on
the Durmese frontier. The Lamaing Wundauk was sent against
him with a force of 3,600 men, and before long the Mylngon had
as^ain to take to flight. He returned to Rangoon and was there put
under restraint by the British Government.
On the day of the Crown Prince's murder, his son the Padeing
Prince fled with about 70 men from Mandalay to Shwebo. There
he was soon joined by the men of Tabayin, Pyinsala, and Tanta-
bin, all of which were towns which belonged to the Eiugshemin.
Fighting men from a number of other towns and villages also joined
the Padeing Prince, who soon collected in this way quite a formid-
able body of men. When the King got news of this he sent the late
Crown Prince's Afmntvnus Maung Pi!: and Maung Hman, besides
his own olhcers, the Kyiicun and the Thitta7vicuni^v\^ a number of
pongyis to the Padeing Prince at Shwebo to persuade him to come
back to Mandalay. The King promised to protect him and 10 look
upnn him exactly as he had hitherto done. The Prince, however,
refused to listen to them and the party came back unsuccessful to
Mandalay. The Prince on his side organized his troops and put the
Tabayin H'/zw, Maung Hman, an official in whom the Eingshemin
had had great confidence, in command of them. He also appointed
as chief /^t?.j the Pyinsala Wun, Maung Aung Myat, the Tabayiw
Sikke^ Maung On, and Maung Hpo Maung, a noted fighting man.
Before long, Maung Hman marched his force from Shwebo and
camped at Sheinmaga. Maung Aung Myat with another party
crossed the river and advanced as far as Madaya, Taungykyun, and
Kapaing, 6 miles north of Mandalay. Maung On with his party
camped at Mingun, while Maung Hpo Maung, with his troops,
made his way to Sagalng and Ava. A further contingent from
Taungdwingyi, Pagan, and Sale towns, which had also belonged to
the Crown Prince, came and joined him and marched as far as Palcik,
9 miles south of Mandalay. The King's forces were at first driven
back and the city was nearly surrounded by the rebels. The King
8
5«
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. II.
«a& both disheartened and alarmed and privately suggested lo the
chief Quren that it would be better to surrender the throne volun-
tarily (o the Padeing Prince and leave the palace with all his fumilVr
ratho- than be compelhjd to do so by force of arms. The Que'^n,
however, was strongly ag.itnst this and urged him to fight on. She
was considered the most skilful astrologtrin the Royal Family and
maintalr>ed that her calculations proved that the King would neither
be disgraced nur dethroned, but would overcome his enemies, if <nily
he persuaded his officers tn attack the Padeing Prince energetically.
The Altnandaw, the Myauknandaw. and Ihe Anauknandaw Queen-i
united their learii and supplications to those of the chief Queen until
His Majesty gave way and sent his son, the Thfinze Prince, lo Ava,
the Mefckhara Prince to Paleik.and the Nyaung Yan Prince to take
command on the nver-bank near Sagamg. The Yenang:y*auug
Ahvinwun was appointed Wungyi and despatched by steamer with
a thousand men to the upper provinces, while the Shwebo IVttn Bo
Pym was appointed Ashtrwinhmu and sent to Madaya. and the
Paungdawpyet Bo, known a** 80 Ma Nga, with the title of xWvaui-
Tvinhmu, was sent to assist the Nyaung Yan Prince in the ntlack on
Sagaing. The arrangements proved sulficlcnt. The Padeings
men at first fought well, bui were everywhere defeated They were
short of arms and ammunition, they haled their leaders who had
been very strict in their discipline, and before long they commenced
to desert in large numbers. In a short lime the Padeing Prince
was left almost alone and wandered about from place to place.
practically without a following ; eventually he was captured by a party
under the Myadaung IVumX Thaputdaw Chaukywa in the Sagaing
district and handed over to the Nyaung Yan Prince who commanded
in Sagaing. The Nyaung Yan Prince treated him well and sent
him to Mandalay as a Slate prisoner. On the conclusion of hostili-
rit^s the King named Ava Anngniyctlmsi (the pleasant ground of
victorv) to conimeii'.orate th<- chief success of the civil war.
♦ The Padeing Prince was kept in confinement for some months
and was then put to death by the Hlutdaw, without the knowledge
of the King, as it was said he was concerting a new rising with his
sister, the Yanaungmyin Princess.
Two days after the murder of the Eingshrmin and the three
Princes, his nephews, their remains were embalmed and laid out in
slate. The body of the Crown Prince was placed in the main room
of the temporary palace and was canopied by four white umbrellas.
His insignia and Court dresses were also laid out beside the corpse.
The remains of the MalAn Prince and his brother, the Pyinsi Prince,
lay in the house of their mother, the Myauksaungdaw Queen.
The Sagu Prince's body was placed in the house of his mother, the
i
.. 1 1.1
HISTORY.
^59
Taimgsaungdaw, in the compound of the temporary palace. The
body nf each Prince lay bent ath two white umbrellas And their
State dresses and badges of rank were also displayed, according to
ancient rites and custom. After the bodies had lain thus (or nearly
a year, the temporary palace and its amiexures were pulled down
and the four prince^i were buried on the site of the main chamber
of the temporary palace. A large mausoleum was built over their
graves and an image called Sanlamuni nas brought Irom Amara-
pura and set up hard by, and the whole was surrounded by brick
walls. An inscription was also added on the 22nd June 1867 (6th
lahyigyaw of Nayon 1229 B.E.).
In November 1866 the British Envoy, Colonel Phayre, again came
up to Mandalay to negotiate a commercial treaty. He was kindly
received by the Kmg, but His Majtsty would not agree to any
treaty on account of the unsettled slate of the country. Colonel
Phayre therefore soon left Mandalay, as the Burmnn chronicler
says, " with much dissatisfaction."
In the same month all the arms in the country from every town
and village were collected and sent to the Hlutdaw. There they
were numbered and the quantities necessary for the defence of towns
and districts were made up and issued to the U'unS and other local
officials who were made responsible for them.
In April 1867, a fire broke out north of the S-weditiosm the
building in which the sacred tooth of Buddah was kept. The fire
was quite close 10 the palace and the King was greatly alarmed.
It was, however, soon extinguished by the troops and officials who
hurried to the spot. All those officials who had not reported them-
selves at the palace on the occasion of this fire were spread-eagled
in the sun near the Civil and Police Courts, according to the custom
in such cases. [This was due to the fact that a rebellion was usually
signalled by a fire and all persons of importance were required to
prove their loyalty by going immediately to the palace. The result
usually was that fires which inl.i^ht have btvn readily got under if
taken in time were often neglected until they become quite un-
manageable.]
In July the Mahadan IVun, N'cmyoyazathiba, and the Yenatha
Myook, Minhla-mindin-kyawgaung, were sent to Singu to explore
some mines, said to have been discovered there. They were suc-
cessful in finding at Sagylntaung in the Singu district 86 very fine
rubies and fifty "of the ordinary colour" (possibly spinel or balas-
rubies). These were taken to Mandalay and the King was greatly
pleased with them. Experts valued them as quite equal to those
of Mogok. The explorers and the men who dug out the rubies
6o
THK UPPER BURMA GAZRTTKER. [ CHAP. 11.
were liberally rewarded and rejOJl^r niin'mtj was thenceforward
carried on by men locally hired for the purpose. Sagyintaun^ was
now re-named by the King Baddamyataung (the ruby hill).
In the same month the Chfcbin Prince, Thadopyinyagyan ; the
Pinle Prince, Thadominsaw ; ihe Shwegu Prince. Pyinyalaw ; the
Mainglon Prince, Thadorai^ycmin^aupg ; the Yenaung Prince Thado-
pyinyalaw; the Katha Prince, Thadominbya; and the Htilin Prince,
Minyfethu, entered the sacred order as postulants, and plentiful
offerings were given to the sadatcs and nmnks, and numerous
^wds were given according to custom.
In March a letter had been received from the Governor-General
of India regarding the conclusion of a commercial treaty. This was
treated with the most notable regard by the King and shortly after-
wards the envoys appointed left Rangoon. These were Colonel
Albert Fytche, the Chief Commissioner, Captain Duncan, Inspector-
General of Police, Mr. Edwards, Collector of Customs, and the
Reverend H. W. Crofton, together with a number of officers in charge
of the escort. They left Rangoon on the 20th September 1867 by
the steamers Nemesis and Colo7iel Phayre-And the King despatched
iVundauk U Pe, the Singu /f ««, and the Padein IVun to Minhia to
meet them and to procure whatever supplies they might want on
the way up. The mission reached Minhia on the syih September
and was received with suitable honours. The journey was resumed
next day and at all the halting places on the way up p-wh were
given for their entertainment. On the 7th October Captain Sladen,
the Political Agent at Mandalay, with Mr. Manook, the Kala-amity
and the Hpaung Wun, went down with a number of war-boats and
met the Nemesis at Kyauktalon and went on board of her, and at
3 o'clock the same afternoon the whole parly reached Mandalay.
The following day a deputation from the King, the Yenangyaung
Wungyit the Kintvundauk^ and other officials went on board the
steamer and formally welcomed the mission to Mandalay. On the
9th the Envoy was conducted in procession from the steamer to the
Residency, and on his arrival there the Yenangyaung iVungyi and
a number of other officials paid a ceremonial visit. At teno' clock on
the morning of the 1 1 th, according to arrangement, the Envoy and his
suit proceeded to the palace, riding on elephants and escorted by nu-
merous officials. They dismounted at the eastern gate of the palace
and walked to the flluidau\ or Supreme Court, where they were met
by the Pakhan and Yenangyaung Wungyis, with whom they shook
hands, and were then led to the Myenan, the Hall of Audience.
Thence they went on to the Zadawun Saung reception room,
where the King met them in state and sealed himself on a golden
HISTORY.
6i
couch; near him sat his sons the Thonzfe, Mekkhara, and Nyaung
Van Princes, besides a nuniber of the younger Minihas and the
whole body of the Minislers of Slate. The King opened the conver-
salidn in ihe customary way by enquiring afler the health of the
Envoy and his party and the details of the voyage. Then the list
of presents from the Viceroy to the King was read aloud and after
A httle conversation the Envoy was invested with a gold salwi' of
the highest grade. Colonel Fytche made a suitable reply and the
King then retired. A number of cakes and sweetmeats were then
handed round and after a short lime the parly left.
On the I4lh October Mrs. Kytche and Mrs. Lloyd had an
interview with the Nammadawpaya, the chief Queen, the Alenan-
daw, the Myauknandaw, and the Anauknandaw Queens in their
rooms in the palace.
On the 19th of the month Colonel Kytche, accomi^anled by
Captain Sladen, Captain Duncan, and Mr. Edwards, had a private
audience. They were received by the King in a sumnter-house in
the southern garden and there were present the Yaw Aiwinieun
the P6ppa Wundauk, Atroiwwundauk^ and the Kaiauuin, After
some general conversation the King retired, and the Chief Com-
missioner, CaplHin Diincan, and Mr. Edwards visited the IVnttgyts
in succession : first the Laungshe Wungyi, then the Venangyaung
(Fmh^^i, and then the Pakhan Wungyi. On I he 2 1st October Colonel
Fytche, Captain Sladen, Captain Duncan and Mr. Edwards again
visited the Pakhan IVuttgyi ior the purpose of discussing the clauses
of the treatv. The Kin Wundauk, the KaiaicuH. Mr. Manook,
and minor officers were present to take notes of the discussion. Next
day the Pakhan Wungyi and the Kin Wundaak visited the Chief
Commissioner and on the 23rd the entire mission visited the palace
on the invitation of the King to see a sort of amateur ballet, per-
formed by the young ladies of the households attached to the
different queens. The performance was considered to be one of the
best ever seen in the palace. When the King left, the mission was
served with fruit and sweetmeats in an arbour in the garden and
then paid a visit to the royal white elephant. They then went on
to see the stone masons busily engaged in engraving on stone the
whole body of the Bitaghat, the Three Baskets of the Law. The
mint was next visited and then the bulk of the party returned to
the Agency-, while Colonel Fytche, Captains Sladen and Duncan,
and Mr. Edwards again went to the Pakhan Wungyi's to settle
points in the treaty.
Finally, on the 251 h October, the entire mission went in formal
procession to pay a farewell visit to the King, The order and
62
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. 11,
arrangements were the same as on the first occasion The party
\sas nitt at liie Hiiifdaiv by ihu F-'akhan Wuugyi, the Nemmgyaung
IVungyi, the Kin IVumiaHk, the Kalawnn, Mr. Manook, and numer-
ous other officials and secretaries. The treaty in English and
Burmese was productd and read aloud by the Padeing \\ un and
was then signed and sealed by Colonel Fytche on the one part and
the Pakhan Wungyi on ihe other. After the signing of the treaty
ihe mission party was conducted into ihe palace and received in
the same room as on the first interview. The King had some
conversation with the Envoy and then made presents to the entire
pariy, valuable ruby rings, gold cups, and other mementoes. When
the King retired the Envoy and the officers of his suite went to the
Royal garden and were ihiare regaled with sweetmeats and then
went on to lunch al the liouse of Mr. Manook, ilic Kalaiaun^ Mr.
Manook had been most energetic in his attention to the comfort
of the mission during its stay. In recognition of this Colonel
Fytche afterwards presented him, through Captain Sladen, the
Resident in Mandalay, with a gold watch, on which was an inscrip-
tion recognizing the services rendered by Mr. Manook during the
negotiation of the treaty, with the date 25th October 1867.
On the 28th Oclober the Ministers came in a body to say good-
bye to Colonel Fytche. and the same afternoon the whole mission
embarked and the steamers proceeded next morning down the
river. The P6ppa Wundatik and other officials accompanied the
party to the frontier to attend to their wants. The Chief Com-
missioner expressed himself to these officers as much pleased with
*'the magnificent and honourable reception accorded to him."
The following December Mr. McCall, the managcrof the firm of
Messrs. Todd, Findlay and Company, came up to Mandalay and
presented the King with a number of articles of value. He was
well received by the King and got as return presents some fine
ruby rings, a gold cup filled with gold coins, and some silk pasos.
His Majesty also gave prestnls to the foresters or thitgaungs who
accompanied Mr. McCall.
In January 1868 Major E. B. Sladen, the British Resident at
Mandalay, was desp.itched on a mission to Wt-slern China and
during his absence the British Residency in Mandalay was under
ihe efiarge of the Kalawun, Mr. Manook, and all correspondence
with the Chief Commissioner parsed through his hand. Mr.
Manook was afterwards formally thanked far his valuable services
al the Agency. When Major Sladen arrived at a small Kachin
village, called Ponleng, on the way from Bhamo to Momien, a pri-
vate order, said to be issued by the IVun of Bhamo, was received
CHAP. It.]
HISTORY.
63
by the headman of Ponleng, This order was written on a short
palm-leaf and simply stated that the Ktilas were not tD be allowed
to return to Burma. This ducuinent was handed to Maung Mo,
Captain Sladen's Kachin interpreter, who read it to the mission
party and then returned it 10 the Kachin headman. Major Sladen
wrote privately to Mr. Manook, the Kalawun, and asked him to lay
the matter before the King, which Mr. Manook accordingly did,
notwithstanding the risk which he thus ran. The King; was much
annoyed at thts unexpected announcement and said he would recall
the IVun and have the matter investigated on the return of the
mission. When Major Sladen returned, the Wnn wa^ in f.ict
recalled and Mr. Manook was sent by the Kinij to ihe Knglish
officer to enquire whether he would rather have the Wun intenogat-
ed by the IVungyis at the Hintdaia in his presence or would prefer to
investigate the matter hims*^lt at the Residency. Mpjof Sladen
bluntly replied that he would neither attend any investigation at the
Hlutdato nor would he interrogate the Wun himself, for he was
sure that that functionary would not tell the truth. Mr. Manook
reported this reply to the King and so the matter ended. The
Bhamo Wun was dismissed from oihce, but five or six montlis later
he was appointed Governor of Salin.
In February there was another grand ear-boring ceremony.
The Royal Princesses whose ears were bored were Supayagyi, Thiri-
thuyatana-iTiingala Dewi, and Supayalat, Thlri-thupapi>a-yatana
Dewi, daughters of the Alenandaw Queen ; the Mingin Pnncess,
Thiri-thuyatana Dewi, daughter of the Magwe Queen ; the Mainglon
Princess, Thuthiriyatana Dewi, daughter of the .Sapwadaung
Queen; the Maingkaing Princess, Thuthiri-pappawa Dewi, an elder
sister of King Thibaw, daughter of the Laungshe Queen; the
Padeing Princess, Thiriihu-pappaw Dewi, daughter of the Kohnitywa
Queen ; the Sinyin Princess, Thirithu-raingala Dewi, daughter of
the Myauksaungdaw Queen ; the Maingnaung Princess, Thuthiri-
mingala Dewi, daughter of the Magvipinsauk Queen, and the
Taungpyungyi Pnncess, Thuihiripappa Dewi, daughter of the Let-
pansin Queen. Besides these, fourteen princesses, daughters of the
late Ein^sheminy also had their ears bored. The ceremony was
carried out in the Hmattnandaw and was conducted with the usual
pomp and customary regard for the respective rank and dignity of
the ladies. Large offerings were as usual made to the monks, and
the King himself a month before the event made presents to the
Queens, Princes, Princesses, Ministers, subordinate officials, and
the people of the capital in general, as he had done two years
before on the occasion of the ear-boring of his favourite daughter,
the Salin Princess.
%
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
Copies of the Biloghat had been preserved in the Bitaghat tnik
at the foot of the Mandnlay hill some time before, on the occasion
of the setting up of thu great marbles Buddha. Since then stone
carvers had been at work engraving the text of the books of the Law
contained in (he Suftam ifinaya and Abkidhatmna on 7;^o marble
slabs, and these were now mounted round the Maha Lawkamasin
(Loka Marazin) pagoda, each slab in a shrine or grotto of its own.
This Avas in December i86S. The King had expressed his desire
of ensuring the maintenance of the Buddhist religion during the
next 5,000 years, and this meritorious work, the like of which no
King had ever before attempted, was his mode of securing an exact
text of the law. The marble slabs had been br(mght from the same
Sagyintaung quarry where the block for the huge image was hewn
out. Fifty sculptors were employed in copying the text, and the
accuracy of this was certified by tlie most learned sudrnvs and of-
ficials in the royal city. The work had extended over a period of five
years. [The Maha I-awka Marazuin pagoda is noiv populariy known
as the Kulhodaw, the Royal Merit pagoda,] In accordance with
the treaty of 1867 the Mixed Court was established and opened on
the 1st August 1868. Major, afterwards Sir Edward Boscawen
Sladen, on the part of the British Government and Mr. Manook,
the Kaia-wun, on the part of the King, were appointed the fiist Judges
of this Court, and on the departure of Major Sladen on furlough his
place was taken by Captain Strover, who ofiiciaied as Political Agent
until the arrival of Major R. A. Macmahon in November, when
Captain Strover left for Bhamo as the first Political Agent in that
town. He was accompanied by Major Macmahon and they as-
cended the river in a small steamer, the Colonel Fytche^ connnand-
ed by Captain Bacon. This was the first steamer to make the
passage from Mandalay to Bhamo. Mr. Manook accompanied the
party. Major Macmahon returned to Mandalay after a stay of
only a few days, but Mr. Maiiook remained with Captain Strover.
The Governor of Bhamo at first obstructed and opposed all lh«
views of the Political .Assistant, bm he was checked and warned by
Mr. Manook, who was afterwards warmly thanked for his services.
[Mr. Manook would appear to have been a personal friend of the
Burnian annalist from the frequent laudatory references made to
him.]
In 1870 a telegraphic line from Mandalay to the British frontier
was nearly finished.
In June of that year, by order of the King, the Daing Wnn^ Maha-
mingyaung-ihinhkaya, repaired the Shweta chaung as far as Nan-
dakan, a quarter in the royal city.
CHAP. M.]
HISTORY.
65
In July four large buildings were erected in the palace to serve
as offices for the Public Works, Police, Agricultural, and Financial
Departments, The chief of the Public Works Department was
the Khampat li'^un^yi\ Thadomingyi-thirimaha-mingyaung-uzana.
Under him were the Poppa Wundauky Mingyi-mahaminhla-min-
gyaung, the Bhamo Wundauk, Mingyi-mahamingyaung-kyawswa,
and the Thandawzin Minhla-ihinkaya. The Police office was in
charge of the Myotha Afyawun, Mingyi-mahamingyaung.ih6nyain|j,
with the Kinwundnuk, Min^yi-mahasithu, and the Thandawzin
Kathc Myinwan, MahaminJinyaza. The Department of Agri-
culture was put in the hands of the Kani Af'tvinivun, Mingyi-maha-
mingyaung-lhinkaya, with theTHeinni ff'w«(/(7«^, Mingyi-mahamin-
gyaung-kyawdin. The portfolio of finance was given to the Pagan
I'Vundauk, Mingyi-mahayaza-thinyin, with the Thandawzin Min-
gala Myivnun, Maha-minhla-sithu. The whole control of each
department was placed in the hands of these officers.
In SKptember the chief Queen of King Tharrawaddi, the motlier
of the Pagan Min, died and there was an enormons concourse of
people at her cremation within the precincts of the palace. The
tuneral pyre was erected on the glacis north of the Hlulda-w;
numerous officials attended until the incineration was completed*
The bones were then gathered and washed with cocoanut-waier,
rose-water, and other sweet-smelling essences and were placed in a
golden pot, held by a specially selected man. The golden urn
was then deposited in a State palanquin, and this was carried in state,
shaded by four white umbrellas, to the Irrawaddy, where the cine-
rary urn was thrown into the river, according to the rites proper
for the occasion. A cenotaph was erected over the site of the
funeral pyre, which exists to the present day.
The Magwe Queen had always been on bad terms with the
Al^nandaw Queen and quarrels were constant between them. At
last in October of this year the Magwe Queen addressed the King
and said that she feared the Alfenandaw Queen would poison His
Majesty's mind against her and bring about her ruin. She there-
fore begged that she might be allowed to leave the place and live
with a man whom she loved, rather than remain in the place and be
constantly nagged at and abused, The King was very angry at
first, but he controlled his temper and gave permission to the
Queen to leave the place and go to live with the rival in his affec-
tions. All the. Queen's property, however, was seized and given to
her two daughters, the Mingin Princess and the Taungdwingyaung
Princess. When the Myotha Myoivun, who was Governor of
Mandalay, heard of this, he seized the Queen's leman, and would
66
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
have put him to death, but the King interfered and said the matter
concerned him alone. He had forbome and forgiven and it was for
no one else to judge the matter. The two therefore lived together
undisturbed.
In 1871, commencing from the month of April, a great meeting
was convened in the Myenan numbering 2.400 learned s/tyadtitcs
and pdngyis. Under the presidency of the King they recited and
rehearsed the Bifaghat Thonhoji, thn Three Baskets of the Law, the
communications of the Lord Buddha. The rehearsal occupied
nearly five months and His Majesty feasted the holy men all this
time. For this reason Mlndon Min was henceforward called
Pyinsama Thinktiya-naiin {or thin), the fifih King who rehearsed
the I-aw of the Buddha, the Convenor of the Fifth Great Synod.
He was the only King in modern times who observed this pious cere-
mony, and there were only four Kings before him. since the death of
Shin Gautama, who had gone through this edifying and devout rite.
The King's four predecissor.s were —
(i) Aratathat, the King of Yazagyo, who was the first who
convened such a synod. Four months after the death
of Shin Gautama, he with the chief rahav, Shin
Mahakaihapa, and 500 rahans read over the holy books
at the mouth of a cave called Sayapinyaukyahlaing
Ku. The King therefore received the title of Patama
Thinkava-naihin.
(2) The next was Kalathawka. Lord of Wethali. The
chief rahan, Maharaiha, with 700 rahans, performed
the same ceremony throughout a period of eight months
at the Walokarama kyamig, 100 years after the death
of the Buddha. This King is therefore known as
Dutt'va Thinkaya-nathin, the convenor of the Second
Great Synod.
(3) The great King Thiridhammathawka, ruler of Patalipok,
was the Tatiyt Thinkaya-nathin. (/'ne thousand ra-
hans, with Shin Maukkalan as their choragos, during a
period of nine months intoned the sacred precepts at
Atthaw Karama kyaung. This was 336 years after
Gautama had entered into rest.
{4) The fourth was Wattaltamani, King of Thiho (Ceylon).
The chief rahon, Shin Maheinda, with 500 monks,
his companions, chaunted the volumes of the tiUaghat
455 years after the Buddha had attained Neikban.
This King therefore is known as Sadotta Thinkaya'
nathin.
CHAP. 11, J
HISTORV.
There was then no repetition of the pious rile until the time of
King Miiidon, foumler of Ratanapong (ihe Royal City of Gems)
and the number of holy men who attended the synod was nearly
equal to the congregations of his four predecessors taken together,
There had b«en no such function for nearly 2,000 years, for His
Majesty's synod was held in the year of religion 2414. He is there-
fore worthy of greater esteem than any of those that went before
him.
In November the King sent the Yaw Aiwinwun, Mingyl Minhla-
mahasithu, to Salin to repair an old pagoda there, which had been
erected by Kyawswa Min, the King of Pagan, in former days. He
had no sooner left Mandalay than his enemies calumniated him to
the King. They said the At-u'tn-wnn was in the habit of saying
openly that he saw no harm in drinkin:^ liquor, and that he actually
did drink himself and often spoke against the King in his cups.
The King was very angry and sent off the Amyauhvun, Mahamin-
gaung Nawrata, to arrest the Aiwinwitu. This was done at Myin-
gyan and the Atinittjijun was brought back to Mandalay as a
prisoner. The King, without any enquiry or investigation what-
ever, dismissed the Atwimviitt from his offices and confined him
in .-Vmarapura for a long time Eventually he relented, or was
persuaded that the charges were not iruc, and appointed the un-
fortunate official to his former rank as Shwepyi Atmnivun. [This
olTicial, however, seems to have been very unguarded in what he
said, for there is a note to the effect that in 1878, on the accession
of King Thibaw, the Shwt-pyi At7vtnwun became Magwe Mingyi
with the presidency of a sort of council, which was supposed to ad-
minister the country in " European fashion," and in particular held
charge of the treasury. The King received money on his note of
hand, but he sent so often that one day the Magwe Mingyi (he is
mysteriously called the " witty " minister) told the man, who came
with a large demand for His NIa'jeity, that the young King was very
extravagant and should remember that nimicy was not to be ob-
tained for nothing, but was wrung out of hardworking cultivators,
and should not be squandered as if it were sand or stones. (There
seems more morality and sense in this than "wit," cm: wisdom
either, considering the circumstances). The lale was carried lo the
King and Supayalat, and the Wungyi^^s deprived of all office only
four months after his accession to rank. The Yenangyaung Wiin-
gyi was dismissed on the same day and the two were imprisoned
in the south garden of the palace. Curiously enoui^h these two
men Maung Po Hlaing (Magwe) and Maung So (Yenangyaung)
were the two who persuaded Mindon Mln, when he was at Shwebo,
not to retreat on Manipur, but lo fight where he was. Maung Po
68
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. U,
HIaing's father was Yindaw Wungyi in Klni; Tharrawaddi's lime,
and was noted as a learned and able minister. He was a great
Sanskrit scholar and was much liked by the foreigners who came
to Tharrawaddi's Court.]
In March 1872, an Embassy was despatched to the Court of St.
James's with letters and presents to the Queen. The members
were the Kin IVundauk, now appointed iVungyt, Mingyi Maha-
siihu, and chief of the Embassy, the Patin Wun, Mahamingaung-
sithu, and the Pangyet iVun, Mahazeyananda Kyawtin, with equal
powers under him and now created IVundauk, and Sayegyi, Ma-
haminhlazeyathu, as Secretary to the Mission. The King had
been ill-advised by his Ministers and had not given formal notice
of his intention of'^ sending such - party to the Political Agent or
to the English Government. In consequence of this irregularity,
the Envoy was afraid that he might not be properly received m
London and therefore first of all visited the Courts of Italy and
France. They were honourably received in both countries and
then went on to London, where they were magnificently received
by Her Majesty the Queen and the Court. The Embassy after
presenting their letters and gifts visited many places of interest in
England and then returned with much joy and satisfaction and
went back by way of Paris. There a commercial treaty was con-
cluded, according to the terms of which French subjects were
granted permission to work mines for minerals and precious stones
in Burma without let or hindrance. The Embassy then returned
to Mandalay and the Kinwun Mingyi recounted what had been
done. The King was much displeased with the clause of the
treaty authorizing the working of mines for precious stones by the
French, and said the Ambassador had no authority to agree to any
such concession. His Majesty held up in his hand one of the
most valued of the crown jewels, a ruby ring known as Nga Mauk,
and asked the assembled courtiers what its value might be. They
bowed their heads to the ground and said no such jewel could be
found anywhere in the world. No value could therefore be set on
it. It was priceless, inestimable, inimitable. The King then,
holding the jewel aloft, said; "If this one ruby be so inestimable
" how many such priceless stones are there to be found in our ruby
" mines ! Moreover, there is no country in all the world which pro-
" duces rubies such as ours. Are we then to resign our pride in
" this possession and let foreigners work our mines ? The treaty is
" not ratified."
[The ruby ring, Nga Mauk, was only worn by the Kings of Bur-
ma on ceremonial occasions, such as the reception of Ambassadors
from foreign countries, or at great festivals.]
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
69
About this time a Shan Amat of Theinni (Hsen Wi) named
Shin He (Hsan^ Hai) left Hsen Wi tow^l and gathered under him
a number of wild Kachins and committed many depredations on
the Theinni frontier. The Bhaino IVnm/auk, Mingyi Maha-min-
faung-zeyathu, was despatched with 3,000 troops to suppress him.
here was a fight and Hsang Hai and his Kachins took to flight.
[Hsang Hai, however, gave a great deal of trouble afterwards and
led to the break up of the Hsen Wi State with disturbances which
lasted until the country was occupied by British troops.]
On the 1 8th of April there was an exceedingly violent storm in
Mandalay, with thunder and lightning, heavy rain, and fierce gusts
of wind. Four persons were struck by lightning and killed. The
like had never been known in the royal city before. I hree men
were killed by lightning in the Natso-lfetvvt; quarter on the north of
the city and one in the Dawe quarter to the south of the palace.
On the 24th of the same month letters from Her Majesty the
Queen of England, the Prime Minister, and the Viceroy of India
were brought np to Mandalay by Colonel Horace Browne, the
Deputy Commissioner of Thayetmyo.and most honourably received
by the King in full audience. The letters were read aloud by a
Tkandawsin^ and the King, according to custom, had some con-
versation with the officers of Colonel Horace Browne's party and
expressed himself highly pleased with the letters. After he had
retired the British Officers had refreshments of the usual kind
served up to them and then returned to the Residency.
The Myauknandaw Queen after her return from a visit to
worship at the Arakan pagoda was seized with an attack of in-
fluenza and, though she was attended by the most skilful of the
Court physicans, failed to recover and died on the 3rd May. Hers
was the lirst case of influenza known in Mandalay, or rather the
first fatal case. This Queen was the daughter of a Myothitgyi
and was taken by King Mind6n as his first wife, while vet he was
only a Prince. She h;id very great influence over the King and
continued to rank as his second wife after his marriage with the
chief Queen, the Nammadawpaya, who according to rule was of
the royal house (she was Mindcm's half-sister). Before her death
the Myauknandaw specially requested that her remains might be
buried instead of being burnt according to custom. A grave was
therefore prepared for her in the north garden of the palace and
she was entombed with great ceremony and a mausoleum with a
spire was erected over the spot. This, however, was pulled down
and utterly destroyed when King Thibaw ascended the throne, and
the Queen's remains were carried away and thrown into the com-
70
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTKER. [ CHAP. II.
mon burying-ground. This desecration was said to be due to
Queen SupayalHt,who declared thai ihe Myauknandaw Queen was
nol of royal blood and tlierefore nnt wortliy to be buried wiihin the
limits of the palace. The true reason, however, was probably the
hatred which Supayalat's mother, the Al^nandaw Queen, bore to
the deceased, her superior In the palace, tliough her inferior in
birth.
In the same month of May 1S72 the Mckkhara Prince, Thado-
tliudhamma mahadhammayaza, was appi'inlt_d to the charge of the
engineering works and factories in Mandalay, with a number of
officials under his orders.
In July five Princes, the sons of the King, and 15 Princes, the
sons of the late £ingshemin, assumed the yellow robe and remain-
ed throughout Lent in the monastery of tlie Tkathanabaing^ the
Superior of the Order. His kyaung lay to the east of the city.
From the ist December of this year the King commenced
a monthly dole to the heads of every monastery in Mandalay.
The offerings seni were a basket of the best rice, five parabaiks
(note-books), five pencils (of steatite for writing in these black
scroll-books), 1 viss of ghee, 1 viss of honey, i viss of oil, and 1
viss of molas?es, to each siidav.' or pongyi who officiated as abbot.
The heads of kyauvgs sent in return their benedictions formally
written out on palm-leaves. These bemsons were all formally
rpcited by the Thandawsin every evening before the audience
which was held daily.
About the end of the year an Italian Envoy came to Mandalay
and \ras honourably received and the treaty, which had been nego-
ciated nearly two years before, was formally ratified.
At neariy the same time a portrait of Her Majesty the Queen
was delivered to Mind6n Min and was treated with the greatest
possible honour and respect.
In April 1873 the Kyabin Prince, son of the Limban Queen was
marriea to the Kulywa Minthami, daughter of the Samakon
Queen. He went mad shortly after liis marriage, but this calamity,
otherwise to be deplored, was the means of saving his life in 1879,
when Kin^ Thibaw put the other Princes and Princesses to death.
In June 1873 a Chinaman named Li-si-tal, who styled himself
an imperial officer, came to Mandalay and had an interview with
the King. He represented that the Panthays {Huitsu) had rebelled
against the Udibu^a and had destroyed much of the country in
\\estern China. Li-si-tai said that he had spent all that he
possessed in warring against these rebels, and added that it would
be a gracious token of His Majesty's affection for, and alliance with
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
71
the Emperor of China if some 20,000 or 30,000 viss of cotton then
lying at Bhamo were presented to him, Li-si-tai, to enable him to
resume the struggle against the marauding Panthays. The King
was fully persuaded that Li-si-tai was in reality a Mandarin of the
Middle Kingdom and gave him 20,000 viss of the royal cotton
stored at Bhamo. Li-si-tai was in actual fact "an audacious and
arrogant robber chief," who made a living by plundering caravans
between Bhamo and Moniein (T'^ng-yiieh). This present from iho
King, however, apparently improved his mode of life. He joined
the Chinese army, really did fight the Panthays, and in the end was
decorated by the Chinese authoriiies. [Li-si-tai was the man who
is believed to have been the chief agent in the murder ol Augustus
Raymond Margary]
In June also some sayadaws and pongyis, tired of the re-
straints of the monastic life, put off their yi'llow robi*s and became
laymen. The King had them assembled together and appointed
Ihem to posts in different districts and towns according In their
abilities. Each man had a fixed salary and ihey were styled
Lupyandaw on account of the interest the King had taken in them,
instead of the usual opprobrious lutwet.
In November 1873, the Pakhan fKM«^;vi*Thadomingyi-minh*a-
sithu, the Chief Minister of the Council and the signatdry nn the
part of Burma of the Commercial Treaty of 1867, died much
regretted by both the King and every one who had known him.
In December a man named Maung Ye, who had been a salt-
boiler in Pegu, came up to Mandalay and attempted to make his
way into the palace through the Tttga ni, ihe main gate. The
officer in charge of the i^ate seized hold of him, for the Tnga-ni
could only be used by the Royal hamily, the Ministers of State, and
Foreign Ambassadors. Maung Ye, however, boldly ani.ounced to
the Bo that he came by the orders of the iVaga Afin, the Dragon
King, who had heard of the piety and power of the Burmese
King and wished to come and serve him. Tne A'agn Min, however,
was a sea dragon and could not live on dry land. He had therefore
despatched Maung Ye as his forerunner to charge the King to
build a large tank and fill it with water so that the Naga Min might
have a dwelling-place. The Naga Min^ Maung Ye said, would
make his appearance in Mandalay in a month's time. The Taga-tti
Bo reported all this to King Mindon, who ordered ihat Maung Ye
should be brought before him immediately. Maung Ye's petition
was formally read to His Majesty and after a few questions the King
loaded the impostor with presents and gave orders for tlie construc-
tion of a large tank at the foot of Mandalay hill with a plentiful
73
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. II.
supply of water for the Naga Min. When the tank was finished
the shameless Maung Ye announced that the vapourous outline of
the Naga Min would be seen hovering over the Mycnanpyathat
(the main spire of the palace) and tiic residence of the chief Queen.
Accordinijly one night the watchers declared ihey saw a brilliant
glow on these buildings, it was believed that Maung Ye had really
produced some illusion by black arts, or by some trick learnt in his
trade of panning out salt. However that may be, he lost none of his
audacity and had the effrontery to address another petition to the
King to the effect that, if His Majesty wished to inteniew or make
use of the Naga Min, he had only to go to the tank and stamp ihrice
on the ground with his royal reet and say " Naga, come forth."
This, however, Mindon Min refused to do and probably began to
suspect the deceit that had been put upon him. Nevertheless, he
allowed the mysterious legend to be put aboul among his subjects,
so that they might be led (o believe that he was like the great and
glorious kings of old, of whom it is fabled that their power was so
world compelling that even the Nagas were unable to stay in their
own places, but were forced to come and do the royal behests.
This, he thought, would in after years be told of him also and his
name be made famous in history.
On the ist January 1874 an Envoy from the French Re}mblic,
who had arrived a few days before, was received in audience by the
King. After the usual complimentary conversation the Envoy said
he had come to obtain the ratification of the treaty concluded by
the Kinicun Mingyi in Paris on behalf of the Burmese Government.
The King said he could not sign that treaty and in his turn called
upon the French Envoy to sign the amended treaty drawn up in
Mandalay, which omitted the right granted to French subjects to
work the ruby mines in Burma. The Envoy said that he could
not do this, for he was only empowered by his Government to sign
the treaty as it was drawn up in Paris. Not many days afterwards
he left Mandalay "with great disappointment."
The Kin-mun Mingyi followed him before long to Paris with the
treaty as amended by the King. The French Government, however,
were no less unwilling to give way than His Majesty and after a
short time the Kitiivun Mingyi was informed that the Government
of France had much business on hand and could not enter upon
a new treaty. So the Mingyi returned to Mandalay without effect-
ing anything.
In June the King and the chief Queen in their State robes pro-
ceeded to make the circuit of the moat round the city walls seated
in a State barge, called Karawaik Paungdaw. They were followed
CHAP. U.
HISTORY.
73
by all the Queens. Princes, and Princesses and the entire body of
officials in a procession of boats. In this way the King took pos-
session of the now completed city of Ratanapong (the Royal City
of Gems)j or Mandalay, and the city was formally blessed by the
ponnaz (Brahmins) according to ancient custom. The King and
the chief Queen assumed new titles, and new titles were also
conferred upon all the Queens, Princes, Princesses, and officials.
After the Myingon Prince's rebellion in 1866 the King had issued
an order that no officials whatsoever should serve or visit any of the
Royal Princes without special permission, under penalty of the
royal displeasure. About this lime, however, a man named Maung
Gyl, Amyin Myook, went to the Mekkhara Prince's residence and
received from him as presents some waist-cloths and turbans.
Maung Gyi afterwards showed these with great pride to his father-
in-law the Alon Wun, MIngyi-mahathaman-nayan. The Wun was
very far from being pleased and said that, if it were known that
Maung Gyi had accepted these gifts from the Prince, he, the Wun
himself, would also get into serious trouble. He therefore carried
\.\\^ pasQs and gaungbaungs straight off to the King and told him
the whole story. The King praised him for his fidelity and loyalty
and conferred a higher title upon him. that of Afingyi Mahathet-
da-<vsht', which is especially reserved for the officials in whom the
King has complete confidence. The title carries with it a guarantee
that its bearer shall never be put to death, no matter what crime
he may cominil. As for Maung Gyi, he was sent a prisoner to
Mogaun^ (the Burmese Siberia, like the Chinese Mongolia or
Turkestan) . The Mekkhara Prince's fault was overlooked on
account of the signal services which he had rendered in the 1866
rebellion.
In August of this year there was a scarcity of food in the north-
ern district about Thtnkadaw and Sampenago, and the people were
reduced to live on roots and jungle herbs. The King sent two
steamers loaded with rice to their relief. Part of the rice was sold
at a merely nominal rate and much was given away gratuitously to
those who had no money to buy it.
On the 6th February 1875 a mission composed of the U'undauk
Mingyi-mahaminhla-yazathu, ih^. Sayegyi Nemyo-mintin-sithu, and
the Akmaya Nemyo-mintin-kvawgaung was despatched to the
Viceroy and Governor-General of India to discuss the settlement of
the Karenni boundary, and the question was finally settled in Man-
dalay between the Burmese Government and Sir Douglas Forsyth,
the emissary of the Viceroy, " and the Karenni were secured against
foreign aggression."
10
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
About this time the King noted that the inscriptions set up at
the most famous pagodas in the country were being effaced by age
and exposure lo the weather. He therefore ordered copies to be
engraved on marble slabs so that they might last for ever. These
marble slabs were then stored in a chamber built of brick at the
Arakan pagoda. They were ^i in number.
In December there was another great ear-boring festival, held in
the Hmannandaw. The Princes and Princesses, children of the
King, whose ears were bored were the following: Supayagale, Thiri-
thu-lheinkha-yatana Oewi, the younger sister of Supayalat, King
Thibaw's queen ; the Pyinsi Princess, Thupaha Dewi ; the Pyaung
Pyi Princess, Thirithu yuza Dewi, younger sister of King Thibaw ;
the Mohnyin Princess. Thirikinzana Dewi ; the Kyaukyit Princess,
Thirinanda Dewi ; the Natmauk Princess Thiripama Dewi ; the Ma-
daya Princess, Thirithcinkha Dewi ; the Yinkhe Princess, Thirithu-
seitta Dewi ; the Myothit Princess, Thirithuwunna Dewi ; the Hinga-
maw Princess, Thirithuthama Dewi ; and the Princes Panya Min,
Thadominyfe-kyawdin, Taungniyaw Min, Thadumlnyft-kyaw, the
Kawlin Prince, Thadnminye-kyawgaung. the Maing Sin Prince,
Thadominyfe-yannaing, and the Maingpyin Prince, Thadominyfe-
thihathu. Besides the?e there were 14 daughters of the late
Eingshemin and nine granddaughters and three grandsons of the
King. On this occasion all the Courts were closed and many pri-
soners were released from the jails, both civil debtors and criminals
by order of the King.
During the ceremony, while the King and the chief Queen were
sitting together on the throne in the Hmannnntiaw looking on, the
Alfenandaw Queen without any warning went up to the throne and
sat down beside them. The whole Court was astounded at her
boldness, for no queens were allowed to sit on the throne with the
King, except the chief Queen. The N'ammadaw Paya was very in-
dignant, but she restrained her anger in the presence Chamber.
When the ceremonial was over, however, she went strais^hl off to her
suite of apartments and wept for shame. The King heard of this
and went to speak to her, but she attacked him, saying that it could
only be owing to his encouragement that the Alfenandaw Queen
would dare to do such a thing, absolutely unparalleled as it was in
its defiance of Court etiqueUe. The King assured her that so far
from having given any encouragement he had been as much surpris-
ed as she could have been at the Irregularity, and added that he
proposed to reprimand and chastise the froward Alfenandaw.
The Al^nandaw Queen was noted as much for her wiliness as for
her haughty demeanour. It appears that she contended that she, as
:hap. u.]
HISTORV.
a daughter of King Bao^yidaw. had a perfect right to sit on the
throne with the King and the senior wife at a festival in honour of the
ear-boring of her own daughter. She would not stoop to ask for
permission, but boldly asserted her right by doing the thing itself.
In February 1876 it was brought to the King's notice that the
water of the S'ane, Tapin, and VVinyohan streams from the Taung-
pyu district north of Mandalay was dispersed and not utilized as it
might be. He therefore ordered the Yenangyaung Wungyi, Tha-
diimingyi-mahaminkyaw-minkhaung, to dig out and repair these
chnungi so that the people might be able to utilize the water for
the cultivation of iheir fields The distance over which the labour
extended was 3,000 fa. 3 tai*igs, from 7 to S miles.
In addition to this the King at the same time gave orders for the
embanking of the Irrawaddy. During the floods the river used to
rise every year as far as the Shweta chaung and caused a good
deal of inconvenience and sickness. Accordingly the King issued
an order in the month of May to all officials that the river was to be
banked up. The bund was to extend from Obo on the north of
Mandalay to Amarapura on the south, and each officer had a section
assigned to him which he was to complete with all convenient
despatch. The height and breadth of the embankment were given
and the earth of which it was built was to be piled upon a basis of
rocks and stones.
On the 23rd October of this year the Nammadawpaya, the chief
Queen, fell ill of fever and, notwithstanding the care of all the most
skilled physicians of the Court, daily became worse. According-
ly th(r King, as a last resource, set free a number of prisoners from
jail, 65 in number, one for each year uf the lite of Her Majesty
Thiripawayaialawka-yatana-niingala Dewi. Among them were
Nga Pyaw, Nga Hpo Ka, Nga Thaung. Nga San E^ and Nga Tha
Aung, five dacoils who were under seulcnce of death. This
pious act, however, proved of as little avail as the drugs of the medi-
cal men, and on the 12th Nuvember the Queen died. She was
burled wi'h great pomp in the north garden of the palace and the
Kmg and the whole Royal Family with the Ministers of State attend-
ded the funeral robed in white mourning garments, and remained in
mourning for seven days. \ tomb with a spire was erected over
her grave. Her loss greatly affected the King, who had frequently
sought her advice on matters of State. The amiability of the
Nammadawpaya and her conspicuous benevolence and piety had
also greatly endeared her to the people at large, and she was uru-
versally regretted. She was a daughter of King Tharrawaddi by his
chief Queen and full sister of the Pagan King, Mind6n Min never
75
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
got over his grief for her loss and wore a white paso until the day
of his death m mourning for her. He paid frequent visits to her
grave — so often, that eventually he had a small summer palace built
close by, where he frequently lived for several weeks at a time.
After the death of the good Queen it was rumoured in the palace
that the Alfenandaw, who was also a King's daughter and a great
favourite with the King, would be nominated chief Queen in the
room of the deceased. When this got about, all the influential
queens and many of the others went to the King privately and asked
him with tears in their eyes whether the rumour was true. If it were
true, they said that haughty and irritable lady would soon make the
palace unbearable for them and they would all have to beg permis-
sion to leave His Majesty and retire from the palace. The King
was very gentle and solemnly assured Ihem that he had given a
promise to the late Queen that no one should be appointed to fill
her place.
A few months later, however, the .Menandaw Queen formally pe-
titioned the King that she, a daughter of King Bag)'idaw by his
chief Queen, had a right to the title of Minddn's chief Queen
and maintained that the retention of the title of Al^nandaw
was a direct slight to her. The poor King compromised ihe
matter by allowing her to use a while umbrella and gave her a
white cow elephant, which had been sent from 'I'avoy, to ride on.
She thus obtained the title of Sinpyumashin (Mistress of the
White Elephant). At the same time, to soothe the other queens,
His Majesty privately told them that the white umbrella had been
given to the Al^nandaw by the chief Queen just before her death
and that he had nothing to do with it. The King only wanted
peace, but so imperious and domineering was the Alfenandaw that
she would undoubtedly have gained her end and would have been
formally nominated chief Queen, if His Majesty had only lived a
few years longer. She was his favourite, though she was so brazen
and pushing.
In December 1876 King Mind6n resolved to build a pagoda which
should surpass every pagoda in existence in size and magnificence.
The site he selected was at the foot of Yankin taung, a hill to the
east of Mandalay, and the shrine was to be built of stone. The
plan sketched shows that the pagoda would have been vastly
greater than any building on earth. The work was pushed on with
the greatest energy. Many people died of sickness and great
numbers of cattle employed to carry material died of fatigue. The
King's mind was set on completing the work and officials were sent
out to report the daily progress, each Minister taking the duty in
CHAP. 11.]
HISTORY.
77
turn. Mind6n Min one day asked one of his royal Italian en-
gineers when he thought the pagnda would b»; finished. Thai i)fficer
callously replied : " It will take about 40 years, Your Majesty."
The Ring was almost more annoyed than displeased, for he was
determined to finish it before he died. As a matter of fact the
structure had only risen about 3 feet above the ground at his death.
In 1S77 the King had a canal dug from the north of the palace
to the moat to the east of the city, running through the north-east
gate of the city called Thonk^. He proposed thus to go to the
pagodas and kyaungs to the north east of the city by water, and in
November, on the completion of the Aiumashi kytiung (the incom-
parable), actually did go with the whole Court in a procession of
State barges. He returned again on the same day to the palace.
At the end of the year it was maliciously reported to the King
that the officials of the late Eingshemin were meditating treason.
They were accordingly all arrested and sent as prisoners to the
Shan States. There was no real ground for the charge, but the
King was afraid that disturbances might be created in the country.
On the loth of May 1S78 the Atumashi kyaung was consecrated
and the King went out with the entire Court and Royal Family, again
by water, intending to stay at a temporary palace which had been
built for the occasion close to the kyaung, where also a great feast
was prepared and all the people of Mandalay, foreigners {i.e., Euro-
peans), Chinese, natives {i.e., Natives of India), and Burmese were
entertained at His Majesty's expense. On this day, however, there
occurred two portents which greatly affected the programme. While
the Kara-maik Hpauvgdaw was passing along the moat, laden with
the Pitaka, or collections of the canonical books, to be deposited in
the monastery about to be coiisecraied^ the boat struck a post and
the spire over the Ilpaungdaiv was violently wrenched and nearly
broken short off. Again after the kyaung had been formally con-
secrated, the King went up to ptay before an image in the interior
of the building. H<: had to go up some steps and as he went
he stumbled and would have fallen had it not been that one of
the Princesses was close by him, whose shoulder he seized and so
recovered himself. The King was a good deal shaken and seriously
frightened and returned to the palace the same evening instead of
staying in the temporary building as had been arranged. The
story of the two accidents got about and they were looked upon by
the people as bad omens. The King himself apparently had the
same idea, shut himself up in his palace, and went nowhere.
In June the yearly examination of fongyis and shins^ candidates
for the full grade of monk and probationers of the order, took place
78
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. II.
at the Thudhamma aayat and the Patan sayat, at the fool of
Mandalay hill. The King;, instead of going himself, sent the Minis-
ters in turn to entertain the sayadaus and potJgyis who conducted
the examination, and to report progress every day. In previous
years he had always made a point of being present himself at this
Patamapyan as the examination for orders was called.
In July the King really fell ill and, notwithstanding the efforts of
his medical advisers, daily became weaker, so that he was not able
to hold the ordinary audiences A rumour ^oon flew all over the
country thai His Majesty was actually dead and embalmed, and
there was much anxiety throughout his dominions. To restore
confidence and quiet the minds of the people, the King by a great
effort made his appearance in the Hall of Audience and remained
there for a short time. It was tno much for his strength, however,
and he gradually became worse, and on the lath September all the
Princes received an order to attend in the palace by command of
the King. The Nvaung Yan Prince, who as the most pious of his
sons, had by the King's command been in daily attendance on His
Majesty with the physicians and knew the nearly hopeless slate of
his father, and moreover received a private warning from his mother,
instead of going to the palace, took refuge at the British Resi-
dency, and persuaded his brother the Nyaung Ok to go with htm.
The other Princes, however, obeyed the citation without suspicion
and went direct to the palace. They were arrested in a body and im-
prisoned in a building to the south of the HlutdaTv. Two days later
they were removed to a building north of the Bahositt, the clock
turret, and there w^ere loaded with chains.
The mothers of the unfortunate Princes made their way to the
King and begged for their release, and on the I9lh September the
King issued an order that they should be immediately set free and
brought before him, at the same time adding that their arrest had
been made without his knowledge, or permission.
The Princes were accordingly set free and brought inside the
palace, but the Mekkhara Prince alone was allowed to go to the
King's bedside. He told his father how matters stood, and MindAn
Min realized the danger they were in while he remained bedridden
and that they would be in still greater peril if he were to die. He
therefore hit upon a plan which he thought would free ihem from
the snares which had been set about them, and would enable them
lo protect themselves. This was to appoint several of them Ba-
yingan^ or Regents. Accordingly he dictated an order appointing the
Thonzfe Prince Dayittgnn of all the country from Shwebo to Bhamo,
with a sayedaivgyi of the liluldawas a subordinate, and with one of
CHAP. II.]
HISVORV.
79
ihe royal steamers at his disposal ; the lands from Kyauksfe as far as
Taungngu frontier were assigned to the Mekkhara Prince as Regent,
also with a HiuiduTi' clerk and a steamer for the Prince's use; and
the tract between Tal6kmyo (Myin^yan) and Myedn, with another
sayedawgyi and a royat steamer, was assigned to the Nyaung Yan
Prince as the third Bayingynn. Each Prince was to rule over his
territory independently and the younger Princes and their relations
were allowed to attach themselves to whichever of the three they
'preferred. A further order was issued to the treasury to advance
what sums might be necessary for the expenses of the Bayingans.
The King also expressly warned the Mekkhara Prince tl at neither
he nor any of the other Princes wore to return to the palace, unless
under an order signed by his own royal hand, which he siid they
would all be able easily to recognize. He then gave his son his
(blessing and stretched himself out on his couch with his feet to-
(Wards the Prince. The Mekkhara knelt down, brushed the royal
feet with his hair and kissed them and humbly thanked the Kmg
for the honour and favour which he had shown him and the other
Princes, his sons, and retired from the presence.
He rejoined the other Princes and went down with them to the
north garden of the palace, where they met their mothers, the
various queens, and their sisters, who had gone there by the King's
orders to bid them farewell. While they were conversing an armed
party rushed upon them and arrested them all and they were all
again lodged in their prison-house after only a few hours' freedom.,
The thanda'wsin who had taken down the King's order for a triple
regency read it aloud before the Ministers. Bui the Kin Wun
Mingyi and other prominent functionaries who were interested in
the plot in favour of the Thibaw Prince prevented the decree from
being issued by the Hlutda-w. They knew that the King wa-^ in a
dying state and that ihe chance of their punishment was slight. It
was they therefore who issued the order for the re-arrest of the
Princes.
The hapless queens and princesses, when they saw their dear ones
thus seized before their eyes and some of them cruellv beaten and
ill-treated, fled to ihe palace weeping and beating ihcir breasts to
relate what had happened to the King and to entreat him to exer-
cise his authority. This, however, had been foreseen bv the
Alfenandaw Queen, who was the originator of the plot, and she met
them on the way and relentlessly bade them hold their peace in
the Palace. They all feared the Alfenandaw and were fain to retire,
and immediately afterwards found themselves made prisoners in
their own apartments. There was Iherefflre no one to tell the
Bo
THE UPPER BURMa GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
King what had happened and he believed that the Princes were set
free and said to h mseU on his sick bed : Now they have got to
the steamers. Now thfy have started. Now they are going full of
joy and gratitude to assume their new duties." But the Princes
lay loaded with chains in their crowded cell and the King knew
nought of it.
He died on Tuesday, the rst October, in the golden palace at the
moment when the second hour was struck and thence his remains
were humbly carried by the Ministers to the crystal palace, the
Hmannandaiv, and there laid on a golden couch of state all set with
precious stones. His body was decked out in the royal robes ;
his face, hands and feet were covered deep with the finest gold
leaf ; a white canopy embroidered with gold leaves was set overhead ;
and the eight white umbrellas, four on each side, were unfolded over
him. On either side were laid out his crowns, his robes of state,
and the royal insignia and badges of authority. The whole cham-
ber was hung with fine white cloth and all in the palace were dress-
ed in pure white as a sign of mourning. The gates of the palace
were thrown open to all who might wish to come and pay homage
to what remained of their Sovereign, and people from all tnc country
round, from the city, and from far distant places, came lo mourn at
the bier of the good King.
After a few days he was buried in great state, attended by the
Pagan Min, his brother, the queens, the princes-ses and all the
dignitaries of state clad in pure white. The catafalque with its
white ropes was drawn by the queens, the princesses, and others of
the Royal Family to the north-east of the Hlutdaw to a spot close
to the grave of the late Queen Dowager, the wife of King Tharra-
waddi, and there he was buried with great honour and solemnity
according to the prescribed royal rites. King Thibaw was present
at the funeral, and it was particularly noticed that he and his follow-
ers were dressed in their ordinary garb and not in white like all the
others present. He came, not on foot, but in a State palanquin,
and when it halted near the burial place he did not alight, hut
gave the necessary order for burial from his palanquin, extended
at full length. The officer in charge of the obsequies set fire to the
funeral trappings as a signal for the interment to go on and Thibaw
then immediately retired. The rest remained till the sepulture was
completed, A fine monument was afterwards erected over the
grave.
The King died of dysentery after an illness of two months. His
loss was felt with profound regret in every part of his dominions.
He was equally loved, esteemed, and respected by his people, who
CHAP, n.] HISTORY. 8l
admired him for his learning, his intelligence, and his kind-hearted-
ness. He was occasionally lead by evil advice to do harsh things,
but when he discovered that wrong had been done he made prompt
and frank amends to the victim. He loved peace above all things
and was willing to sacrifice almost anything to secure it. He was
very religious and eajger to learn anything new in science, knowledge,
or literature. On the representation of the English Missionary, the
Reverend Doctor Marks, he built a beautiful church and a school
for the teaching of the Christian religion, and to this missionary
school he sent several of his sons, King Thibaw being one of them.
But the King was above all zealous to advance and foster the
Buddhist religion. He erected numberless kyaungs, pagodas,
sayats, and other meritorious works. His name is the most nota-
ble in the Alaungpaya dynasty.
He was bom on Tuesday, the 6th increase of Waso 1176 B.E.
(3rd July 1814), and died on the 1st October 1878, at the age of 64,
after a prosperous reign of 26 years. He took his title of Minddn
from the fact that, while a prince, he drew the revenues of the
Minddn township, west of Thayetmyo, within a few miles of the
foot of the Arakan Hills. His birth name was Maung Lwin.
This ends the chronicle of King Minddn's reign.
The following domestic palace details have been collected from a
variety of Burmese sources : —
The chief Queen was the only one of the queens who had the
power to petition the King direct in favour of a candidate for office,
or to interpose in behalf of a prisoner or any one sentenced to
death.
The other Queens and ladies of the palace had no recognized
authority, but many of them had a good deal of personal influence
with the King in the privacy of his chamber, and therefore great
court was paid to them by minor and district officials and even
by Ministers of State in the hope that promotion or protection in
times of trouble might thus be secured for them. Friendship with
these ladies was also useful in another way. They could report
what passed or was talked of in the palace and so do a friend a
good turn. The queens' chambers were therefore thronged with
the wives and daughters, alike of officials and aspirants for office,
and occasionally a very kind-hearted lady of the Court would send
a special warning message to a suitor or a delinquent. After his
establishment of the salary system King Mindon banded over some
of the queens to the care of various Ministers and district officials
and ordered them to be regarded as daughters and to be looked
after and provided for accordingly. These ladies naturally had an
II
83
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. U.
eye to the interests of their guardians and gave secret information
for their advantage. Feminine Influence was thus even more para-
mount at the Burmese Court than it is elsewhere in Burma.
The situation therefore when King Mindon fell seriously ill was
sufHciently complicated. There was no rule extant that the eldest
Prince should succeed, and no one iiad been nominated Eingshemitt
or heir-apparent b^ the King as successor to the Pnnce, his
brother, murdered m the rebellion of 1866. In 1869 Colonel (then
Captain) Sladen had urged the King to nominate one of his sons to
be his successor, on the ground that this would secure the peace of
the country. But the King had argued that, on the contrary, this
would be the surest way to create disturbances. He had so many
sons of an age fit to govern the country that the appointment of
any one of them as Etngshcmin would be practically signing his
death-warrant. The matter therefore was postponed until the
lingering and debilitating illness of the King left him without the
energy or the influence sufficient to settle the question himself.
As matters stood it was hardly possible that there could be ai
peaceable and bloodless succession. The three most prominent and
elderly Princes were the Mekkhara, Thonz^, and Nyaung Yan
Minthas. They were all loyal ; they had rendered equally good
service in the rebellion of 1866; they were much of an age and, as
far as their mothers were concerned, according to Burmese notions,
they were on an equality. The Th6nz£ Prince had perhaps a slight
advantage in the rank of his mother ; the Mekkhara Prince was the
bravest and perhaps the most prominent ; the Nyaung Yan Prince
was the most pious and well-read and therefore possibly the most
likely to find favour in the eyes nf the Governor of the I*^ifth Great
Synod. The King himself hesitated, as is evident from his division
of the Regency among them. Possibly he thought he would re-
cover from his sickness and would have time to settle ihe succes-
sion ; possibly he was too weak to arrive at any decision ; most likely
he was confused by the startling arrest of all the Princes without
his orders. His love of peace and the absence of any one to guide
his decision probably determined him to leave matters to settle
themselves. In any case he made no definite nomination.
The Al&nandaw Queen saw her opportunity in this. She knew
that she was hated by all the Queens and indeed by most of the
Royal Family. She knew that each Queen would intrigue for her son
with the aid of whatever officials could be won. She knew that the
Thibaw Prince was in love with her daughter Supayalat, and she
determined that through them she would continue to exercise the
same influence at Court as she possessed in Minddn's time. She
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
83
carried out her plot with equal energy and daring. While the King
was ill, the only persons, besides the physicians, allowed to come
near him were ihe Alt-nandaw Queen herself, the Taungsaingdaw,
the Thanatsin and Letpansin Queens, and U Hka Gyi, the chief
eunuch. She still further isolated him by ordering that no ponies
or carriages were to pass near the palace and that no one was to
speak above a whisper throughout the whole building, or to come
near the sick chamber. It was by her orders that the Princes were
first summoned to the palace and arrested, and it almost seems as
if she had obtained the King's approval of this siep on the ground
that the safety and peace of the kingdom called for it, but this latter
point is very obscure. At any rale she persuaded the King to stipu-
late that all the Princes should leavej Mandalay with the three
Bayingans, Mekkhara, Th6nz6, and Nyaung Yan, except theThibaw,
Maington, and Thagaya Princes.
Meanwhile she had further developed her plot. She sent for the
Ktn IVun Mingyi and her particular ally, the Myaukdwe Bo, a mili-
tiiry officer and father of the Yanaung Mintha, and informed them
that the Kin^ had appointed the three Princes to be Bayingans, and
that the inevitable result of this must be disturbances, risings among
the people, and the overthrow of the Ministers themselves. She
therefore suggested (hat it would be well for the peace of the coun-
try not to let any of them leave Mandalay and said all should be
confined by order of the //lutdaw. At the same time she hinted that
the King had expressed a wish that Thibaw should marry Supaya-
lat and should be nominated Eingskemin. Whatever the Min-
isters may have thought of the last proposition, they were thoroughly
alive to the dangers hinted at by the Alenandaw, and the Kin IVun
Mingyi easily persuaded the Hkampat, Yenangyaung, and Shwe
Pyi IVutigyis to agree to the Queen's proposition. An order of the
Hlutdaiv was therefore issued for the re-arrest of all the Princes and
this was promptly carried out in the north garden of the palace as
related by the Burmese chronicler. A few of the minor Princes
escaped during the scuffle which occurred. The Mekkhara and
Thonz^ Princes resisted violently. The former was cut over the
head and the Thonzfe Prince was also injured by a fall off the palace
wall, which he was trying to scale. In order to divert suspicion
and to persuade tlie people that the arrest was made really for the
sake of the country, to ensure its tranquillity, the Thibaw Prince was
arrested among the others, by the express desire of the Alfenandaw
Queen. He was, however, very soon liberated on the pretext that
the King wanted him to give him his medicine.
The King was now more isolated than ever and the Alenandaw
Queen further developed her plot. While the Ministers were sitting
84
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER.. [ CHAP. II.
in Council near the southern palace there was brought to them by
an eunuch from the Alfenandaw a parabaik, a black official note-
book. It contained a list of the Princes' names, and the Ministers
were requested to put a mark asjalnst the name of the one ihey
thought best fitted and worthiest to be appointed Eingshemin, the
successor to the throne. The parabaik was first handed to the
Hkampat Wungyi, who at that time was looked upon as President
of the Council. Ho looked over the list and passed it on, without a
word and without making any remark to the Kin Wun Mingyi. This
officer had now been completely won over by the Al^nandaw, and
without a moment's hesitation he placed his mark against the name
of the Thibaw Prince. The other Ministers thereupon, whether in
the plot or not, all followed his example and voted for Thibaw.
They thought that this Prince, who had no established party of his
own and no powerful relations in the Court to outward seeming,
would be more easily managed than the more elderly Princes, all
whose favourites and likings were known.
Tht parabaik was then taken back by the eunuch to the Alfe-
nandaw and after a day or two she laid it before the King and
pointed out to him the unanimous vote of his Ministers. The
Ring simply looked at it and laid the book down by his bed with-
out a sign or a word. .Ml this lime he knew nothing of the arrest
of the Princes and during a slight revival of his strength the Min-
isters were in great alarm and were with difficulty kept from releas-
ing the prisoners by the .M^nantlaw. The amendment of the King's
health was, however, only temporary. A relapse set in and within
ten days he was dead.
He lay in state for seven days, and the day after the funeral
Thibaw was proclaimed King. The Ministers established a kind
of Council which was to administer the affairs of the country on
what was called a constitutional system. No order was to be issued
and no appointments were to be made without the consent and
approval of this Council. This was not at all, however, what the
Alfenandaw or King Thibaw and his consort wanted and the Coun-
cil came to an end in three months' time. That body had endea-
voured to keep a control of the treasury, and the Shwe Pyi Wungyi
in its name ventured to protest against the royal extravagance.
The immediate answer to this attempt to cut the privy purse was
the dismissal of the plain-spoken Shwe Pyi IVmtgyi and of the
Yenangyaung IVuvgyi, who was reported to have spoken favourably
of the Mekkhara Prince. Such autocratic action was too much
for the Council and no more was heard of the attempt at " consti-
tutional Government." King Thibaw ruled supreme.
CHAP. n.
HISTORY.
85
Immediately after the coronation ceremony the Myaukshweyi
Queen, the mother of the Nyaung Yan and Nyaung Qk Princes, and
her daughters were arrested and imprisoned. At the same time
there were thrown into jail the Kunywa Queen, the mother of the
Th6nze Prince, and her daughters, the Mekkhara Prince's mother,
the Myauksaungdaw Queen and her daughters, the Pagan Queen
and her daughters, the Limhan Queen, the Thekpan Queen, and the
Saingdon Queen, witli their daughters, besides many others. They
were all confined in the palace enclosure near the western gate
and remained closely guarded until the occupation of Mandalay by
the British troops.
At first the King*s intention was simply to keep the Prim:es, his
brothers, in confinement. A large jail for their accommodation
• was therefore commenced on the western side of the palace, but
before long the Alfenandaw Queen, her daughter Supayalat, and
'their confidential advisers arrived at the conclusion tfiat the death
of the Princes was the easiest way of preventing them from giving
trouble. King Thibaw required little persuasion and the massacre
took place in February 1879. A huge trench was dug to receive
them all and many were tossed in half alive or only stunned by
the clubs of the executioners. The Hlethin Attvinwun was Myowun
of Mandalay at the time, and he with the Yanaung MinlUa and
their Letihdndaws, their personal attendants, were sent to verify the
dragonnade and see that none escaped. The huge grave was
covered with earth, which was trampled down by the feet of the
executioners, but after a day or two it began gradually to rise and
the King sent all the palace elephants to trample it level again.
After some time the trench was opened again and the bodies were
taken out and removed to the common burial-ground and interred
there.
The most prominent among those murdered were I he Myauk-
saungdaw Queen with her daughters, the Kani and Kgap& Afin-
ihamis and her son, the Mekkhara. Prince ; the Kyanhnyat and
Thinkyfe Princesses; the Thonzt Prince and his brother the Pintha
Mint ha ; the Kothani, theShwegu, Mohlaing, Taungnyo, Yenaung,
Maingt6n, Kawlin, Kotha, Thagaya, Thilin, and Tantabin Princes,
besides many others, sons of the King and of the Ei7igskemin who
was murdered in t866. Other notable persons killed were the Tabfe
Mintha, Mind6n Min's cousin, the Yenatha Mintha, the Limban
Queen's brother, the Bhamo Aiivinwun, uncle of the Thonzfe Mintha,
Maung Yauk, formerly Governor of Rangoon in Burmese times,
and his brother, the MyinBugyhcun, the Madaya IVun, who was
uncle of the Nyaung Yan Prince, and a number of other ofiBcials and
86
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
relatives of the Princes. The victims numbered in all between 70
and 80 souls. Both the Court and the country were horrified, but
none dared to murmur, A spirit of lawlessness, howi^ver, spread
throughout ihe kingdom and dacoits and robbers soon infested
every part of the country.
Immediately after the massacre Supayalat distributed among her
favourite malds-of-honour the cities and titles assigned to the mur-
dered queens and Princesses, and King Thibaw in the same way
named his most trusted letthondaws successors of the deceased
Princes. The titles therefore all survived in different individuals.
King Thibaw married Supayalat immediately upon his succes-
sion to the throne. He had been in love wuh her for some con-
siderable time. His mother, the Laungshe Afibuya (who was
seventh in rank among the Queens), the Alfenandaw, and the Minis-
ters, however, decided among themselves that he should also
marry Supayagyi, the elder sister of Supayalat, and that Supayagyi,
as the eldest daughter of the Alenandaw, should have the title of
chief Queen, Nammada^v Mibuya Kaunggyt, while Supayalat
was to be styled Myauk Nandaw Mibuya^ or northern Queen. It
was assumed that Thibaw, like all Kings of Burma, would have
four principal queens and a number of minor spouses according to
fancy. However, to begin witlij he married the two sisters in the
presence of the entire Court at the time of his coronation, and they
sat on the throne to the right and left of him. Both of them were
allowed to use white umbrellas and Supayagyi moved into the apart-
ments which had been inhabited by Mindon's chief Queen. Supa-
yalat, however, established herself in the King's own rooms and kept
a close eye on him, so that he was never able to go anvAvhere
without her. The King therefore saw nothing of Supayagyi at all.
This, however, did not satisfy Supayalat, who was determined
to be sole mistress. Before long Supayagyi fell sick and her
favourite nurse, Ma Pwa, lighted some candles and placed them in a
row in the Nammadapaya's rooms as an offering to the spirits for
the Queen's recovery. Supayalat heard of this and immediately
told King Thibaw that Supayagyi and her nurse were working
spells against his health and power and were conspiring to bring
about the return of the Nyaung Yan Prince as King. She there-
fore persuaded the King to send messengers to see what was going
on and he was duly told that candles were indeed burning in a
row, but what it was for the spies could not say. Thibaw was
gradually worked into alarm and Indignation by Supayalat and
had several hot altercations with the Alenandaw, who took the
part of her elder daughter. In the end Thibaw ordered the nurse
to be put to death. When the Alenandaw heard this she thought
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY.
87
Supayagyi was also in danger and caused her to be removed from
the Nammadapaya^s rooms and brought under her own immediate
care again. This was the very thing which Supayalat had been
scheming for. She hated the notion of any one staying in the
chief Queen's suite except herself.
Supayagyi was very fond of her nurse and worked herself into
such a state of misery over her sentence to death that the Alfenan-
daw was fain to stifle her pride and went to King Thibaw and beg-
ged him to spare Ma Pwa. He recalled the death sentence, but
Supayalat would not allow her to be released and Ma Pwa, with
her three sons and her aged mother, were kept confined in the
women's prison for some considerable time. Supayalal, with or
without grounds, believed that Ma Pwa had been scheming to in-
troduce the King into Supayagyi's chamber and this was more than
her jealousy could stand. Her hatred was implacable. After a
few months Ma Pwa was removed to a prison in Sagaing and she
had not long been there when a private order arrived that the nurse
was to be starved to death, which was duly carried out.
Jealousy was Supayalat's chief characteristic, and to it she united
the imperiousness and cruelty which she had inherited from her
mother. She kept the King completely under her control and
effectually prevented him from indulging in amours. When her
first child, a daughter, was born, all the daughters of the officials
were ordered to come to the palace to pay homage to the infant
Princess and to do her homage. Among those who came was Mi
Hkingyi, a grand-daughter of the Hkampat IVufiffvi and niece of
the Pagan At-wintvun. Mi Hkingyi was very good-looking and
very gentle in her manner. She was therefore chosen among
those to attend on the infant, and King Thibaw saw her often
when he came to see the child and soon took a fancy to her.
He therefore sent the Taingda Afivinii'un's grandson, a lad of
fourteen, to express hislove for her. Mi Hkingyi dutifully told the
messenger to ask her uncle and aunt, the Pagan Ahvinumn
and his wife. The King then privately sent the S'auaung Afin-
tka, a special favourite of his, to the Atwinwun, to say that he
wanted to marry the girl. The Atwinzvun and his wife express-
ed their sense of the honour intended, but said ihat they were
afraid of Supayalat, who would take revenge not only on the girl,
but on all her relations. The King ihcn summoned them to meet
him in a suite of apartments close to the letthondaw's quarters,
where Supayalat very seldom went and showed the preparations
he had made there for Mi Hkingyi, and declared by his royal
honour that he would see that neither the girl herself nor her
relations should suffer from Supayalat's indignation. He also
88
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP, II.
promised to tell Supayalat the whole circumstances of the case
after her second confinement which was expected, and assured
them that he would reconcile her to the situation, appoint Supaya-
lat Nammadnwpaya and Mi Hkingyi to the dignity of Myauknan-
daw, and that thus everything would be satisfactorily arranged.
There is something almost ludicrous in all this to-do about a mere
chit of a girl, when even the Princes of Burma, to say nothing of the
King, were in the habit of making alliances as they would have
bought a new pony. The fuss made, however, shows how com-
pletely Supayalat ruled the palace, so that not merely the Minis-
ters, but even the Kin^f himself hesitated about doing anything
without her consent and approval.
The girl was brought into the palace and established in the
quarters prepared for her, and King Thibaw, da in hand, himself
threatened Supayalat's attendants with immediate death if they told
her anything about his new connection. He informed Supayalat
that he was to receive a solemn beithet, a blessing with consecrat-
ed water from the pdnnas, and that it was necessary for him to
keep solemn and solitary fast for seven days in preparation for
the ceremony. Two small temporary palaces were therefore built
in the southern garden of the palace and in one of them Supayalat
kept a genuine fast so as to be worthy to receive the betthei with
the King. Thibaw himself kept a sort of honeymoon with Mi Hkin-
gyi and held high revelry with his favourite leifhondaiosy the Ya-
naung A/infha. the Pintha Prince, the Taungtaman-Iesa, and the
Ekkahabat Myiwaun. The Queen was very proud of her asceti-
cism and bragged about it freely to her attendants, adding that
even the austere Mindon Min had never submitted himself to such
mortification on an occasion of the kind as the young and lusty Thi-
baw had now done. She was confined of her second child 15 days
later and King Thibaw then told her of his alliance with Mi Hkin-
ey\. The Queen's indignation at the new connection was worked
mto fury when she thought of the trick that had been played on her
and the way she liad been fooled before her attendants. She de-
manded that Mi Hkingyi should be surrendered to her at once, but
Thibaw had gathered courage from his lefthondaws and flatly re-
fused. He, however, thought it well to move Mi Hkingyi into
a safe place in the southern garden of the palace, and thence she
used to visit him dressed in men's clothes and guarded on the way
by the Yenaung Prince and other confidants of the King.
Supayalat then realized that high-handed demands were not
likely to prove successful and changed her plan. She affected to
be reconciled to the division of the King's affections and argued
that it would be more seemly that the new Queen should live in the
CHAP. II.] HISTORY. 89
palace in the usual way. She gave a solemn promise that she
would do Mi Hkingyi no harm and for a short time did really treat
ber kindly. Before long, however, she began to bully and ill-treat
the girl, who complained to the King. Thibaw consulted with his
confidential friends, the Yenaung and Pintha Princes, the Taungta-
man-lfesa, and the Ekkabat AfytttTVun, who bluntly said that it was
a woman's duty to obey her husband, that the King might have
as many wives as he pleased and that he was justifiea in thrashing
or threatening Supayalat into compliance if mere argument failed.
On the next occasion of a remonstrance with Supayjilat about her
treatment of Mi Hkingyi therefore, the King seized a spear and
rushed at his wife. Supayalat fled to her mother Al^nandaw's
apartments and got there before the King could catch her. The
maid s-of- honour scattered in dismay and were not to be found,
though the letthdndaws were sent to look for them. The whole
palace was in a state of commotion and the gates were shut lest
the consternation should spread outside.
Late at night Thibaw repented of his hastiness and went and
made it up with Supayalat, but she had now taken her measure of
him and returned to the palace determined not to give way. Quar-
rels between her and Thibaw were frequent and almost as violent
as this had been, but Supayalat now never gave way, and what be-
tween fear of her and love for Mi Hkingyi, Thibaw got into such
an excited and bewildered state, that rumours spread into the city
that the King was going mad.
The Queen therefore resolved to put an end to the cause of
quarrel in a summary way. She knew that the Yenaung and other
letthondaws were the King's great supporters and were bound for
their own safety to thwart her plans. She determined therefore
to get them out of the way and took the Taingda Atwinwufi into
her councils.
King Thibaw had never gone round the city moat and she per-
suaded him that in order to take formal possession of the city
.it was necessary that he should do so. She also reminded him
that it was customary on such occasions to set up four golden
boxes, one on each side of the city, into which any one who had a
petition to make, or grievances to unfold, might drop his letter and
so secure the royal attention without danger or expense to himself.
The King agreed and, with the Queen and the letthdndaws^ made
the four-mile circuit in the royal barges in stately and pompous
fashion. They returned at night and the four boxes were brought
into Supayalat's apartments and opened bv the King himself.
There were a number of petitions and most of these from all four
boxes were anonymous letters directed against the Yanaung and
[2
90
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. 11.
Pmtha Princes, the Pagan Atn^inwun, the Taungtaman-I^sa, the
Ekkhabai Myimvuti, and others of the /eithondaws, charging them
with treasonous conspiracy against the King and his Government
and correspondence with the Nyaung Yan and Nyaung Ok Princes.
These letters had all been concocted by the Queen herself and
deposited by her ally, the Taingda At-wimeun, in the golden
boxes.
The Queen herself insinuated her suspicions, and King Thibaw,
who lived in constant fear of such plots, was easily persuaded to
order the arrest of the accused and to entrust the duty to the
Taingda Atmn-a>uv and the Shwehlan Myowun, both of them in the
Queen's confidence. The next morning the Yananng Prince was
;irrested as he entered the palace gates in the ordinary course of
his duties and immediately after, the Pagan Ahcin-wun, the Pintha
Prince, the Taungtaman-Ifesa, the Ekkhabat Afyinwuti, the Hkam-
f)at Wungyi, the ICaunghan !/*««, the Ng^vckun If 'hw, with all their
amilies and retainers, were arrested in their own houses and lodged
in jail without any form of trial or investigation.
They remained thus In confinement for 20 days and then Supa-
yalat began to be afraid that the King would relent and set free
the prisoners, most of whom had been his closest friends. She
therefore took counsel with the Taingda and Shwehlan Wuns again
and persuaded them to go and tell the King that the Yanaung
Mintka was ratting in his cell and had declared that he would
rather kill himself than submit to be put to death by the King's
order, and had actually tried to commit suicide by cutting his throat
with a pair of scissors.
Thibaw when he heard this fell nto a rage and ordered the Ya-
naung Mxntha out for immediate execution and this was carried
out on the spot A few days later the Pagan Atmnviun and the
Ekkhabat Myivwun were put to death in jail. Of the rest, some re-
mained in confinement and some were exiled to Mogaung. .Among
the latter was the Taungtaman-lfesa, who was killed on the way
there by the secret orders of Supayalat.
The whole story of the conspiracy was a pure invention of the
Queen's, but it served her purpose and got rid of the King's allies
and advisers. He now became a mere puppet in the Queen's
hands, and she so arranged that Thibaw could never see Mi Hkin-
gyi except in public. Shi* also told the girl that she would accuse
her and her aunt, the Pagan Atwinwun^s wife, of attempting magic-
al arts again-st the King, if she ventured to go near Thibaw, or to
say anything to him but what Supayalat mstructed her tu sa
The girl's spirit was broken and she was daily nagged at and
treated by the maids- of- honour and by Supayalat herself.
7-
ill-
CHAP. II.]
HISTORY,
9}
Thibaw gradually forgot the i^irl whom he was never allowed to
sec and Supayalat placed Ml flkingyi in charge of ihe Taingda,
who had now been appointed i^Vuttgyi. She was kept a close pri-
soner in his compound, but one day Supayalat heard from tlie
Wungyi's grand-daughter that the girl was kindly treated and al-
lowed to see pTi'i's in the compound. She got in a great rage over
this, threatened the Taujgda with dismissal, and spoke to the King
about it. Thibaw had quite got over his fancy, lie wanted
peace in his household above all things. He sent for the Taingda
and asked if Mi Hkingyi was still alive and added that he wanted
to hear no more about her. The ^Fm«^^'/ took the hint and had
the girl killed. Supayalat sent a eunuch to make certain of the
fact.
The whole matter was much discussed in Mandalay and through-
out Burma and ruined the coniidence of the people in the King.
The lawlessness in the palace provoked lawlessness in the country
[,and legalized dacoit gangs pruyed over whole districts.
The following notes on the reign of King Thibaw are supplied
by Maung Po Ni, of Mandalay: —
King Thibaw assumed the title of Thiripawara Ditya Lawka
Dhipadi Pandita Maha Dhamma Rajadhiraja. He was the son of
the last King, Mindon Min. by the Liungshe Queen, Princess
Nanda Dewi, and was born on the morning of Saturday, the 12th
waning of ihe moon of Nattmv 1220 (isl January 1859), so that he
was twenty years of age when he ascended the throne.
When he was sixteen years of age he entered a monastery on
his novitiate and, after a stay of three years, passed in the first
class at the annual Sudhamma examination.
On his return to the palace after his father's funeral, he found
that the Princess Saliii Supayagyi, one of His late Majesty's
daughters, and kept Tnhindamg, had shaved her head along with
her three maids-of-homHir, and had put on the dress of a nun.
This somewhat annoyed King Thibaw, fnr he had intended to marry
her. He consoled himself, hnwevcr, by marrying her two remain-
ing sisters, the Princess Maingiiaung MyozaThuthiri Ralana Min-
gala Dewi and her younger sister, the Princess Myadaung Myoza
Thuthlri Pabha Raiana Dewi, daughters of King Mind6n by the
Sinbyumashin Queen.
In the month of Tahodwd 1240 (February 1879), for the safely
and v^elfare of the country, the King's elder brother, the Princes
Th6nze, Mekkhara, Shwcgu, and a number of others, in all up-
wards of 40 persons, were made over to the Ministers and put 10
^3
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. II.
In the following month His Majesty's uncle, the ex-King Pagan
Min, died and was buried with the usual pomp and cererronies.
At the same time King Thibaw's infant son died of sma!I-pox in
the palace, and the King therefore could not attend his unde*s
funeral, but it was nevertheless very grand.
During the month of A'ayon (May) 1879 the King caused a
pagoda to be built in a garden 10 the south-east of the city, known
as the Thin Hemanum garden. This pagoda was known as the
Ma-an-aung Yatana and King Thibaw was thereafter sometimes
known as the Ma-an-aung Yatana Dayaka, or founder of the pa-
goda of that name.
In the month of Tabodwd (January) 1880 a large white house
was built for the King's mother, who had become a nun. She
took possession of this, but died in the following year.
In the month of IVaso (June) 1880 a mission was sent to
effect a treaty of friendship with the Brinsh Government, but after
it had been delayed for eight months at Thayetmyo, it had to re-
turn without effecting anything.
In August of the same year the chief Queen gave birth to a
daughter.
In the following month the Yaw Myosa Wungyi was given Rs.
5,000 and sent to quell a disturbance which had broken out at Mong
Nai (Mon£) and to take charge of thai part of the Shan States.
In the month of Kason 1243 (April 1881), as it was the fourth
year of His Majesty's reign, it became necessary, in accordance
with ancient custom, to again perform the ceremony of coronation.
Highly ornamental sheds were therefore erected on the space in
front of the Palace, and the King and the chief Queen, seated on a
thrune, went through the ceremony of Beii-tkeit ; consecrated water
was poured on their heads from three conch shells. They then
proceeded to the city moat and entered a barge, in which they were
rowed round the city, both banks of the moat being lined with
troops all the while. The significance of this ceremony was that
the King took possession of the city. Special effect was lent to
the function by the circumstance that the moon was under eclipse
at the time.
In July 1881 the chief Queen gave birth to another daughter.
In the month of Tagu (March) 1882 the Atwimvun Kyauk-
myaung Myoza, was appointed chief envoy to proceed to Simla and
London with friendly letters and presents. The Embassy was in-
tended to negotiate a commercial treaty and to secure other ad-
vantages for the country. A draft treaty was sent to .Mandalay
by the British Government, but the King thought it one-sided and
ejected it. Moreover, he particularly desired that any treaty he
CHAP. II.J HISTORY. 53
might make should be witli the Queen-Empress and not with the
Viceroy of India.
In the month of Tahodwe 1244 (February 1882), when the King:
was 34 years of ag^e, all hereditary officials in charge of towns and
villages (myothugyis and thugyis), whose names were registered
in the lists or Sittans of the years 1 145 B.E. (1784) and 1 164 B.E.
(1803), were required to submit fresh papers, showing the reality
of their hereditary rights and the time they had endured. These
lists were submitted to the HiutdaTv, which had the power of con-
firmation or rejection.
In the month of Tabaung (March) of the same year pagodas
were erected to note the days of the week on which His Majesty
and the chief Queen were born. That to the King was put up in
the Salin Myet-thin quarter, south-east of the city, and was named
the Lawka Yan-naing pagoda. Two others in honour of the chief
Queen were erected in the Abyaw-san garden, east of Mandalay hill.
In the same months titles were bestowed upon the monks, the
Mala Lingaya and the Shwegyin sadrnvs. The former received
that of Sasaaa Dhaja Dhamma Siri Dhipadi Maha Dhamma Raja-
dhiraja Guru and the latter that of jaganahi Dhaja Sasana Pala
Dhamma SenApati Maha Dhamma Rajadhiraja Guru. These titles
were bestowed in the Thudhamma temple, where a large number
of holy men weie assembled and the usual gifts and offerings were
made to them, .^fle^ the titles had been formally conferred, royal
orders were read aloud, declaring that these two sada-ws were speci-
ally charged with the propagation of the Buddhist religion.
In the same month offerings were ordered to be prepared, which
consisted of a white umbrella for the Mahamuni image (at the
Arakan Pagoda; on behalf of the chief Queen, and two other white
umbrellas for the shrine of the Lawka Marazein (the Kutho-daw,
where the books of the law are engraved on marble slabs), one for
the King and the other for the chief Queen. These umbrellas
were made and ornamented in the mirror room, on the north side of
the palace. The adornments consisted of lace borders and fringes
and handle tips encrusted with gold, silver, diamonds, pearls, rubies,
and coral. The value of each umbrella was estimated at upwards of
Rs. 80,000. When they were finished the umbrellas were conveyed
to their destination in solemn procession by the Ministers of State
and were opened out over the two images.
During the same month, as the King was desirous of entering
into a treaty of friendship with the French Government, suitable
presents for the President of the Republic were prepared and the
Ahtsin-wun Myothit Myoza, VVunt^yi, Mahazaya Thingyan, was ap-
pointed chief of the mission, whilst the Wundauk Thangyet, Wun,
94
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. II.
Mingyi Minhla Maha Sithu Kyaw, and the chief writer, Maha
Minhla Thinkaya, were appointed Assistant Envoys, and all left for
Paris.
Also in the same month the Myowun Shwehlanbo Kawlin Myoza
Mingyxt Maiia Mingauiig Nawra-hia, who was placed in Mong Nai
(Mon6) on account of the disl<^yalty of Nga Kyi Ngfe, cx-Saubwa
of Mong Nai, and of Nga Htun, «.x-Myoza of Mong Nawng, Nga
VVaing, exSaTubwa of Lawk Sawk (Yatsauk), and Nga Pe, ex-
Myoza of Mong Ping, having rclurncd to the capital, his place was
taken by the IVimdauk Kutywa Myoza, Mingyi Mingaiing Sithu
Kyaw, who received command of a force of 1,000 men and went to
take charge of Mong Nai and to restore peace in the Shan States.
During this month also 225 ticals of gold were set apart to be
made into four alms-bowls When these, with stands and covers
complete, were finishwl, they were conveyed by ihe Ministers of
the Court to Pakhangyi, where they were deposited as royal offerings
before the sacred images.
During the month of 2nd IVaso 1245 (July 1883), when King
Thibaw was 25 years of age, he called for an eniyneration of
the slaves in the city, both male and female, and required that
all slave-owners should produce their bonds before the Hlutdaw,
showing for what amount of debt each person had been enslaved,
and how much had been paid towards the liquidation of the debt.
The owners of the slaves, the slaves themselves, and the persons
who sold them were summoned and each case was separately en-
quired into by the judges and specially appointed onicers. The
King then paid upwards of Rs. 40,000 towards the emancipation
of a large number of them. Two hundred and forty of these
became rahans and 1,154 entered monasteries as novices, making a
total of 1,394 who assumed the yellow robe. To all of these the
King gave presents of robes and money. Two hundred monks of
all degrees were then invited to the Thudhamma temple and
suitable offerings were made to them, and for three days the Princes
and Ministers of the Court were employed in carrying out the
necessary details of the ordination ceremony.
During the month ui March of this year, Maung Hpon, a son of
the late Eingshemin, who had become a rahan, but was neverthe-
less watched by a body of 100 men appointed for that purpose,
conspired with some of these guards to raise a rebellion. Some
of them, however, betrayed him. An enquiry was held, and Maung
Hp6n confessed. His monkish robe was then stripped off him and
he and all who supported him were thrown into prison.
About the same time, to promote the peace, contentment, pro-
sperity and happiness of all classes of his subjects, as well as of the
CHAP', ti.]
HISTORY.
^S
monastic order, the King ordained that the country should be divid-
ed into ten divisions or knyaifjgs, each division being placed under
a Kayaing IVttn, or Commissioner. These Commissioners were to
be chosen with care and were periodically to visit everypart of their
jurisdiction.
In the month of Tabaung (March) 1883 both of His Majesty's
infant daughters died of small-pox, within a few days of each other.
They were buried in the north garden and monuments were put up
over their graves.
The following month a fire broke out in the house of a man
named Nga To, in the Katna Bumi quarter in the west of the town.
The lire travelled southwards towards the Kulhinayon pagoda, burn-
ing the whole series of kyaungs which surrounded it, besides a
number of others, and then swept on to the temple of the Maha
Muni (the Arakan pagoda). There it burnt down the temple and
all the surrounding religious buildings, including the sheds leading
up to the temple on all four sidts.
His Majesty paid out Rs. 18,360 to re-build the temple and the
approach(-s. The work was commended to the care of the Minis-
ters of the nhitdato and they were instructed to use the utmost
expedition.
In the year 1884 there was a most wanton massacre. It was
thought thai the Myingun Prince, who was then in Pondicherry,
had designs on the throne of Burma and that he had supporters
among certain officials in Mandalay. A number of these, who were
supposed to have sunt messengt rs to him, or to have visited him
personally, were thrown into prison, where it was hoped they would
give information against others in order to save themselves. But
this scheme was elaborated on. There were at the time very many
men imprisoned on political charges, especially in the ^aol near the
palace. Secret orders were sent 10 the gaolor to release some of
the prisoners. While these men were making their way out, an
alarm of a gaol outbreak was started, shots were fired, and the
King's troops rushed into the gaol and cut down every one they
came across. To save trouble with those locked up, the gaol itself
was set on fire, and this also was a preconcerted signal to the two
gaols in the town, where all the prisoners were promptly massacred.
Great numbers of perfectly innocent persons thus lost their lives,
for no enquiries were made and none were spared.
During the month of December in the same year the great brazen
image known as tne Thibya Thiha at Amarapurawas brought from
there to Mandalay. The conveyance of this image cost tne King
Rs. 30,000. Its weight in brass was estimated at 3o,ooo vlss. It
is now in a temple in the Aungnan Yeit-tha quarter of the town.
96
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. 11.
Early In the next year a white elephant was brought from Taung-
ngu. When it reached the capital the streets all the way to the
palace through which the animal passed were lined with troops,
and there were great rejoicings alt over the town. On the first
IVaso (June) 1885 M. Haas came to Mandalay as French
Consul.
King Thibaw had now become very unpopular among his sub-
jects. The massacre of 1884 especially had horrified many of
them. The establishment of the royal lotteries moreover had im-
poverished and demoralized the people and the royal exchequer
was nearly empty. The chief Queen sent the Taingda Afingyi a
simple order to fill it for her. The Taingda Mingyi hit upon the
plan of accusing the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation of having
committed a breach of contract in regard to the working of certain
teak forests, and fined them arbitrarily the sum of Rs. 23,00,000.
The Corporation appealed to the Government of India and a remon-
strance was sent to the King, with the suggestion that the question
should be referred to arbitration. King Thibaw. however, ignored
this remonstrance and proceeded to levy the fine by the confiscation
of timber, elephants, and other property of the CorpocAion. Upon
this an ultimatum was sent to the King, embodying the following
provisions: —
(i) The dispute between the Burmese Government and the
Bombay Burma Trading Corporation to be settled
by arbitration, conducted by a British officer and a
responsible Burmese official.
(2) The reception at the BuiTnese Court of a British Resi-
dent under suitable conditions.
(3) '^^^ foreign relations of the Burmese Government to be
under the control of the British Government.
The King sent an unsatisfactory reply and the result was the
advance of the British troops on Upper Burma. There was some
fighting at Sinbaungwc, Kanmyo, and Minhla, and the expedition
arrived before Mandalay on the 28th November 1885. The troops
disembarked at half past one, marched through the town and sur-
rounded the city walls. General Prendergast and Colonel Sladen
entered the palace by the eastern gate and had an interview with the
King, who surrendered unconditionally. He, with his two queens
and his infant daughter, the Teit Supaya, were taken to the steamer
Thooreah and conveyed to Rangoon and thence to India, where
latterly he has been detained at Ratnagiri. The Taingda Mingyi
was deported to Cuttack , but was allowed after some years to come to
Rangoon, where he died in 1 896.
CHAP. III.]
HISTORY.
97
CHAPTER III.
HISTORY.
THE CAUSES WHICH LED TO THE THIRD BURMESE WAR AND
THE ANNEXATION OF UPPER BURMA.
Thibaw Min, the last King of Burma, was the eleventh of the
Alaiinqpaya dynasty. The founder, Aung Zeya, began life as a
farmer, developed into a dacoit, and died Kini;, with his frontier at
the farthest limits that Burma ever had. The subjoined table
shows the succession of the Kings of Burma from the time of
Alaungpaya to the time of the downfall of his dynasty.
(i) Alaungpaya (1 753— 1 7<k)).
(3) Sinbyuyin MinUysgyi
[1763— 1776}.
(4) Singu Mincnyagvi
{1776-1781). ■
(6] Bodawpya
(1781— 1819).
Eingshtmin
(died before his father).
(3] Naungdaw MinUyagyi
0 760— 1763).
{5) Paungga Min
(reigned seven days in 1781.)
ii) Bagyidawpaya
{1819—1838).
(8) Shweba Min (Kin? Tharrawaddi}
(1838—1846).
(9) Pagan Min
(i846-i85»).
(10) Minddn Min
(1852—1878).
(11) Thibaw Min
(1878-1885).
The early history of Burma is related in the British Burma
Gazetteer published in 1880. It is sufficient here to recall that
the first war between England and Burma occurred in the reign of
Bagyidawpaya, the seventh King of the dynasty, and was termi-
nated in 1826 by the treaty of Yandabo. The provinces of Arakan
and Tenasserim were then ceded to the British. Pagan Min, the
«3
SB
THB UPPBR BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. III.
ninth King and the nephew of Bagjridaw, was the ruler at the
time of the second Burmese war. This was terminated in Decem-
ber 1852 by a proclamation of Lord Dalhousie's, which annexed
the province of Pegu to the Indian Empire and fixed the frontier
at the parallel of latitude 6 miles north of the fort of Myedi, thus
cutting off the kingdom of Bumvi entirely from ihe sea, and con-
verting the name of the independent country into Upper Burma,
as distmguished from British Burnra.
Almost immediately after the end of the second war, Pagan
Min was deposed by his brother Mindon Min. Mindon Min was
above all things anxious for peace, though he did not by any means
love the British. He was very learned in the literature of his
country and he was enlightened enough to seek to introduce western
civilization into his kingdom. He sent Envoy3 to Europe to study
the arts and manufactures of European nations, and the sons of many
of the chief Court officials were sent to England, France, and Italy
to be educated in the languages and acquirements of those countries.
He also bought a fleet of steamers to ply on the river and built
numerous factories and workshops in his capital. In this way, and
having no wars on his hands, he did much to increase the revenue
and promote the commercial prosperity of the countn.'. The mairt
facts of his reign are chroniclea in the translation from a Bur-
mese annalist which appears in the previous chapter.
The event of chief importance in his reign was the treaty con-
cluded at Mandalay in 1867 between the British and Burmese
Governments. This provided for the mutual extradition of cri-
minals, the free intercourse of traders, the restriction of the royal
monopolies to earth-oil, timber, and precious stones, and the estab-
hshment of permanent diplomatic relations between the two coun-
tries. Under this treaty a British Resident was established in the Up-
per Burmese capital, with certain civil jurisdiction over cases concem-
mg British subjects, and a P-^litical Agent subordinate to the Resi-
dent was stationed at Bhamo. So long as Mindon Min lived, not-
withstanding that he clung to the obsolete ceremonials to which
he was accustomed, and thus debarred thr British Resident at Man-
dalay in his later years from access to his presence, nothing arose
which gave any reason to apprehend a breach in the good relations
between England and Burma-
Mind6n Min died on the ist October 1878, of dysentery, after
an illness of two months. He was succeeded by the Thibaw
Prince, his son by the Laungshe Queen, the seventh in rank of the
queens. The Prince's ng^ nami, or personal name, was Maung Pu.
He was also called Maung Nyo Sin among his playmates in the palace
on account of the lightness of his complexion {nyo). The succes-
CHAP, in.]
HISTORY.
sion was due to an intrigue, details of which from Burmese sources
are given in Chapter II, and wasentirdy unexpeclod in the country^
though as a matter of fact the main details of the plot were car-
ried out nearly three weeks before the old King died. Of the six
principal sons of the King, resident in Mandalay at the time, t^o,
the Nyaung Yan and tliK Nyaiing Ok, got wind of the conspiracy
and took refuge in the British Residency and the other three were
close prisoners in the palace for a fortnight before Mindon Min
died. There seems a probability that the old King knew of the
cabal wht-n it was too late, and was possibly even induced in his
weak state of body and mind to acquiesce in it. He seems always
to have been aFraid to thwart the imperious Alfenandaw Queen,
who was set on having her dauglitcr's lover, the Thibaw Prince,
seated on the throne. At the time of his accession the Prince
was barely 20 years of age, and little was known of him, except
that he had studied English letters at Doctor Marks' Missionary
schnul in Mandalay, and had in addition passed creditably as
patama-pyan in the Buddhist scriptural examination.
The new King succeeded to the throne perhaps at an unfortu-
nate time. A revision of the commercial treaty of 1867 had long
been desired and overtures had actually been made with that ob-
ject by the Government of India to King Mindon in 1877 and
1878, but without result. The King had throughout been in the
habit of evading the object and substantial obligations of the
treaty without any positive infraction qf the letter. Although no
articles besides earth oil, teak, and precious stones were declared
to be royal monopolie?, and although ihe King used lo assert that
every trader was at liberty to buy whatever he wanted, the real
fact was that all purchases had to be made from the King himself
or from his authorized agents.
The King was by far the largest dealer in produce in his do-
minions, and, until his dealings were concluded, none of his subjects
were in a position to transact business with private traders ; more-
over, an attempt was made to force all dealers in imports to sell
their goods to the royal brokers, from whom alone, it was pretend-
ed, the King's subjects were at liberty to purchase what ihey re-
quired. The merchants of Rangoon compUined frequently and
strenuously against the persistent and syslen\atic disregard of the
terms of the treaty by the King, and strong remonstrances upon
the evasion of its clauses were left as a legacy with the kingdom
to the young King.
There had also been several violent outrages committed on
British subjects in Mandalay during the last few months of King
lOO
THE UPPER BL'RMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. Ill,
Mindon's reign. An aeronaut, Colonel Wyndhani, who was pre-
paring a balloon (or a show ascent in Mandalay, was barbarously
ill-treated ; two dhobies, British subjects, were arrested for going
about at night without a lantern, and put in the stocks, which were
afterwards raised so that the victims had to support the whole
weight of their bodies on iheJr hands placed behind their backs to
avoid dislocation of their ankles ; a captain of one of the Irrawaddy
Flotilla steamers was put in the stocks for two hours in the rain,
because he had inadvertently walked across a part of the river
embankment which was considered sacred; finally, in the first
month of the King's reign 30 passengers were forcibly removed
from one of the Flotilla Company's steamers without any WTitten
authority shown.
The Indian Government thought the accession of a new king, a
young king, one whose position might be supposed to be so un-
stable at home as to make him anxious to be on the most ami-
cable terms with foreign governments, a favourable opportunity to
urge a re-adjustment of relations. Accordingly the Resident was
instructed to adopt a firm attitude and to state plainly that the
British Government would be prepared to act for the protection of
British rights and subjects with entire disregard for the inleresls of
the new Government of Burma. Mr. Shaw, the Resident, accor-
dingly acted with vigour. He pressed for redress and intimated to
the Ministers that the general recognition and support of the new
King by the Government of India would be proportioned in degree
to his adoption of a new and friendly policy, and especially to the
degree of access which was allowed to Her Majesty's representative,
and to the consideration of his position and influence. He met with
a certain measure of success. The torturers of the dhobies were
sentenced 10 ten stripes each and to the restitution of twice the
sum extorted from their luckless victims. The captain of the
Gateway, who had put Captain Doyle in the stocks, was degraded
from his post and sentenced to imprisonment, and a notice was
set up at the Criminal Court that the pohce were not to ill-treat
Europeans who were subjects of a friendly government. Nothing,
however, was done in the matter of the " Royal-money-bought
servants " forcibly taken from the steamer Yankeenfaung,
Possibly the King may have been led to believe that the British
Government favoured the Nyaung Yan Prince, then a refugee in
Calcutta. He may have thought that the Indian Government
wsihed to provoke a rupture, and for this reason he may have
thought it well to remove all possible chances of conspiracy within
his own dominions. However that may be, he suddenly resolved
IHAP. 111.]
tlSTORY.
to do what he could to put an end to chances of civil war. A
special prison was in process of construction for the captive mem-
bers of the Royal Family and was well on towards complelion, when
suddenly, and apparently without the knowledge of the majority
of the Ministers, the Royal prisoners to the number of 80 were
brutally put to death inside the palace on the 15th, i6th, and 17th
February 1879. Details of the massacre from Burmese sources
are given in the previous chapter. The whole was carried out
by the personal followers of the King, and the alarm among the
officials and the people of Mandalay was to the full as great as the
horror excited in Burma and India. The public and forcible re-
monstrance of the British Resident against the barbarous execution
of his own relatives by the King seems, notwithstanding Thibaw's
English education, to have taken him by surprise. Such executions
were the usual accompaniments of a change of sovereignty in
Burma, and especially so when the number of Royal Princes was
large and the succession had not been previously arranged. In
a semi-civilized country like Burma the measure at one time was
absolutely necessary for the peace of the country, and the murder-
ing of a number of Princes was thought no more of than ihe
thinning out of a litter of puppies or kittens. King Mind6n left
30 sons behind him. Thibaw was the youngest practicable suc-
cessor, and there was probably much more real fear than defiance
in the massacres. Jealousy was the Queen Supayalai's chief
characteristic, and her suspicions and fancies were probably more
responsible for the murder of the Queens and Princesses than any
idea of public policy.
Until King Thibaw's accession there had been no European Resi-
dent in the Burmese capital at the time of a change of kings. Com-
munications in the old limes had been slow and difficult and those
fmt out of the way, as no doubt some always were had been much
ess numerous. When King Thibaw succeeded there was a tele-
graph line between Mandalay and Rangoon; trading steamers
came and left several limes in each week, and King Mindon's sons
were numerous beyond precedent. The outburst of horror and
indignation which the massacres caus "d, very probably therefore
astonished the King as much as it alarmed him. This is shown
by his answer to Mr. Shaw's remonstrance in a letter sent by the
Kinivun Mhigyi under the King's instructions to explain '* ihe
and imprisoning),
pointed outj " was taicen m consideration of
the past and the future, only when there should exist a cause for
disturbance."
clearing and keeping by matter" (the kdling
which action, it was pointed out, " was taken ii
103
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP< Ul.
The Kin-xun MingyVs letter, dated the 20th Febiuary 1879,
to the Resident at Mandalay ran as Follows : —
" Having rrcchrrd and carefully perasrd Rrsidcnt's letter, dafd igth
Krbrtiary 1879, llif Miniftrr intimates thai the royal domininns of fturma
h«iiig governed by a distinct independent crowned head, should there be
reason tu fear a disturbance in the country, it is usual for it lo perform
such acts as, according to it:> uwo views as to advantages or evils in c;oo-
nexion with church and State iuteresls, it has ;i right to perform according
to the custom of th^r State.
"Should there be a matter which witt bring on a disturbance in the
country, it is not proper to pay attention to whether the action to be taken
thereon will be the subject of c^nsurr and blame, but it is proper to act
only according to the interests of charch and State.
" For the above two reasons, having in mind only the interests of church
and State, this business has been done according to custom, lliis is
intimated in conformity with the Oraod Friendship, for Resident to note."
lndi:?nation among Englishmen at the state of affairs in Manda-
lay and fear, as well as resentment, in the minds of the King and
his courtiers combined to render imminent a breach of the friendly
relations betwetrn the two countries, and a considerable military and
naval force assembled in Rangoon in the spring of 1879, while the
Kins^ made a show of warlike preparations and held several " re\-iews"
of his troops, in the shape of marches round the city walls. Seven
of the Shan Chiefs were called on to supply levies, guns were
mounted in the Sa^aing and Shwegyetyet forts, new officers were
appointed to the army, and the whole force received a month's pay
in advance. All this, however, was merely due to the excitement of
the King at his own barbarities, and his alarm at the possible con-
sequences of his disregard of the remonstrances of the British
Government, and as time passed on immediate apprehension of war
gradually passed away. Neverlhless, the tension continued ; attacks
lyere made by coolies and others on Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's
steamers i a Madrassi merchant was practically flogged to death
in prifjon and the personnel of the British Residency was insulted
on several occasions. Mr. Shaw died of heart-disease in June 1879
and, after his appointment had been Blled for a short time by an
officiating Resident, the ^^hole British Agency, staff and establish-
ment, was formally withdrawn from Mandalay early in October 1879.
The Indian Government notified its right to appoint another Resi-
dent at Mandalay whenever it saw 61 to do so, but as lon^ as the
Burmese Government continued to exist no fresh agent was ap-
pointed.
The King almost immediately despatched the Myaunghia Wu«-
daitk as an Ambassader with a letter and presents to the Governor-
General of India, but as this Envoy was not accredited with any
CHAP. III.]
HISTORY.
103
powers he M'as not permitted to proceed beyond Thayetmyo. He
was in fact merely the bearer of a letter complaining of the removal
of the British Agency from Mandalay and expressing vaguely a
desire that friendship should be maintained and that commerce
should continue. A translation of the letter is given as a sample
of the style of the royal correspondence, (t is dated the seventh
of the waxing moon of Tasaungmon 1241 B.E. {21st October 1879,
about a forinighl after the withdrawal of the Political Agency).
" The Burmese Sovereign of the Rising Sun, who rules over the country
of Ibunaparanta and tU'' country of Tambadefja (Thunapar.-»nta — the
Atirea rcgio of Ptolemy — 'all countries to the north of Ava;' Tamba-
deepa = 'all countries to the south of Ava't, with all the other great
dumin-ons and countries and all the umbrella-bearing Chiefs of the cast,
whose glory is exceeding great and excellciU. the Master of tb« King Ele-
phant Saddan, the Lord of many white elephants, the Lord of life, the emi-
uenlly just ruler, writes, O excellent MngHsh Viceroy, who rulcst over th«
many great countries and nations of India t
" Writes—
"At a time when in accordance with the firm and established Grand
Roval Friendship, which has continuously existed between these two great
dominions and countries, the Burmese and Knglish Empires, from royal
faihiT to sno, from royal grandfather to royal grandson, and from royal
great-grandfather to royal great-grandsou, for a very long period of time,
the merchants and L-ommon people were buying and selling, trading and
tiafliclcing, and coming and going 'i peace and quietness, the English
Political Officer at the Royal Gem City of Mandalay, and three other Offi-
cers with their escort and establishment, without any special reason,
suddenly and precipitately quitted the Royal Gem City of Mandalay, ahd
in consequence the merchants and common people who live within both
Kinpires have becotne uneasy in ilieir hearts and minds, and their trading
and trAlTicking have been interrupted and ruined.
'•Therefore, as a testimony to make nianifest the excellent royal desire
that instead of this inlerru]>ti<>n and ruin of the buyiuj^ and selling, trading
and trafficking of the iiiercluints an') common peof)lc living in both Km-
pires, the merchants and common people: without injury to iheir profit
or business, and with contented and happy hearts and minds mav con-
tinue to trade, and go and come, as they have always traded and gone
and come in times past, and that betw'^n the two great dominions aud
countries the State of Royal Grand Friendship may by friendly and
peaceable means be especially strengthened and cstabUs-hed, the H'undauk
Myoza of Myaunghia, Thiriinahagyawdinra'p, has b^en appointed first
Ambassador; the Secretary, Mintintheiddir.ija, second Ambassador; the
Assistanr Secretary, Nemyoniintinraja, third Ambassador, and they have
been sent and despatched with a Royal Letter and Gifts.
"When the Royal Ambassadors and officials arrive it will be manifest
that the King is particularly anxious to maintain, by friendly and peaceable
means, continuous Royal Grand Friendship between the Burmese Empire
and the Empire of the English Ruler, Inose two great dominions and
countries.
I04
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. III.
"The Sovereign of the Rising Sun, the excellent Burmese Ruler, believes
and expects that, in the same way as he himself desires tliat the mer-
chants and common people of both Empires should be especially happy and
prosperous, so the Viceroy will have regard to the interests and the busi-
ness of merchants and common people, and will well and duly receive the
Ambassadors and officials who are sent."
There was reason to believe that the Wundauk was sent as much
as a spy as in any more creditable capacity. He never got beyond
Thayetmyo, though in February 1880 he submitted a draft outline
of a new treaty, which was, however, negatived without discussion,
and he took back an answer to the effect that the Viceroy had been
seriously dissatisfied with the position and treatment of the British
Resident at Mandalay, which had been altogether inconsistent
with professions of friendship and with the exchang^e of diplomatic
courtesies. In such circumstances, it appeared incongruous and
premature to send a complimentary mission to Calcutta, or to
assume, as the King did, tnat the mission could be received in a
friendly and honourable manner in Calcutta by the Government of
India, whose representative had been treated with habitual dis-
courtesy in Mandalay.
The Wundauk, who had a fancied resemblance to the Pope and
was therefore known in British Burma as Pio l^ono, returned with
this message to his master, was disgraced, and shortly afterwards
died.
An embassy visited Simla in 1882, but the attempt to re-establish
cordial relations did not even result in a semblance of a return to
a satisfactory footing. The King abruptly recalled his envoy while
negotiations were going on, and there was no real restoration of
confidence or good feeling as long as Thibaw remained King.
There were scuffles on board the Irrawaddy Flotilla Company's
steamers ; a mail steamer from Mandalay had its starting gear
taken away and was detained for the greater part of a day, while
the Captain was confined on the plea that the safety of the
steamer might be endangered by an abortive attempt which the
Nyaung 6k Prince, escaped from Calcutta, made to start a rising
against the King on the Thayetmyo borders. The Nyaung Ok
Prince's escapade was a very awkward circumstance, and the
Burmese undoubtedly firmly believed that we were to blame for his
proceedings. A forma] request was actually made by the Mandalay
Ministers for the extradition of the Prince and bis followers on a
charge of dacoity. This was refused on the ground that inter-
national law and custom forbade the delivery of political offenders.
A claim for compensation for damage done to the extent of Rs.
55,800 was also made, but was rejected, and the Burmese Govern-
ment was referred to the Civil Courts. It was seriously considered
CHAP, ml]
HISTORY.
»oS
whether the British Goveniment should not formally withdraw from
the Treaties of 1862 and 1867, and this course was only not re-
sorted to because the Government of India was loatl> to precipi-
tate the crisis which was inevitable. Matters gradually drifted from
bad to worse. British subjects, travellers and traders from Lower
Burma, were subjected to insolence and violence by local officials
in Upper Burma. Representations made to the King's Govern-
ment were often absolutely without result as far as redress was
concerned, and what redress was obtained was always unsatisfactory.
In contravention of the express terms of the Treaty of 1867 mono-
polies were created to the detriment of the trade of both England
and Burma, with great resulting derangement of the commerce and
revenue of British Burma. In Upper Burma the weakness and
corruption of the Government resulted in the complete disorganiz-
ing of the country. Bands of dacoits preyed at will on the people.
There were risings in the Shan States and raids on the King's
lowland territories north of Mandalay. The elements of disorder
on the Lower Burma frontier steadily increased and became a
standing menace to the peace of ihe British provinces. The
Taingda AtivifiTvun and the Shwetaik Mingyi were admittedly in
collusion with bands of dacoits, shared their profits, and prevented
their arrest. A force of about 1,500 men ravaged almost undis-
turbed north of Mandalay- The Sagalng district was so infested
with dacoits, and these marauders were so bold, that they sent a
formal challenge to the King's troops to come to fight at Myinrau.
The Wun of Sale wa? attacked in his own Court in broad daylight
by dacoits and narrowly escaped with his life. Magwe was plundered
and set fire to, and the myothugyi murdered. Bhamo was cap-
tured and held by a handful of Chinese marauders. The Shan
States were involved in a confused civil war, which did not cease
till after the British occupation. At the same rime the Burmese
showed a marked and persistent anxiety to enter into alliances
with foreign powers, in such a manner and to such an extent as to
give ground for apprehension that grave political trouble might be
the ultimate consequence.
The Indian Government was unrepresented at Mandalay, but
representatives of Italy and France were welcomed, while the King's
Government contested the demarcation of Manipur and threatened
to pull down the boundary pillars and a stockade erected by
Colonel Johnston. Two separate Burmese Embassies were sent
to Europe, one under the guise of a merely commercial mission for
the purpose of contracting new and, if possible, close alliances with
sundry European powers. Neither of these missions visited
England or showed any desire to win the friendship of the repre-
14
io6
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. Ill,
sentatives of the British Government residing at the Courts to
which the Burmese Envoys were accredited. Monsieur Ferry
admitted to Lord Lyons that it was quite true that the Burmese
desired to throw themselves into the arms of France, but said iha.t
the Republic had no intention of forming an alliance, offensive and
defensive, with Burma, or any alliance whatever of a special
character. The Burmese had asked for a secret treaty and par-
ticularly had demanded facilities for procuring arms, but to all such
requests the French Government had turned a deaf ear.
Meanwhile another massacre in Mandalay, disguised under the
name of a jail outbreak, roused the horror of all and the fears of the
Rangoon merchants that trade would be ruined. The term jail
outbreak seems to have been a concession to European sentimen-
tality. The massacre was really due to fears of a supposed intrigue
carried on in the interests of the Myingun Prince, who had escaped
from his place of detention at Benares and made his way first to
Chandemagore and then to Pondicherry. To get rid of the few
remaining members of the Royal Family and to scare conspirators,
a pretended escape from jail was arranged and between 200 and
300 persons, including two Princes and many women and children
of rank^ were shot and cut down with das, and the details of the
massacre were as horrible in every way as those of 1879.
Early in the following year the King pushed still farther his
negociations with France. Two heads of agreement were formally
drawn up. The first provided for the construction of a railway
between Mandalay and the British frontier at Toungoo at the joint
expense of the French Government and a company to be formed
for the purpose.
The capital was to be two and a half millions sterling, the line
was to be completed in seven years, and the concession was to last
for seventy, at the end of which period the railway was to become
the property of the Burmese Government. Interest was fixed at
the high rate of 90 per cent, per annum and its payment was
secured by the hypothecation of the river customs and earth-oil
dues of the kingdom.
The second document gave the terms for the establishment by
the French Government and a company of a bank with a capital
of two and a half crores of rupees. Loans were to be made to the
Burmese King at the rate of i 2 per cent, per annum, and other
loans at 18 per cent. The bank was to issue notes, and to have
the management of the ruby mines and the monopoly of pickled
tea, and was to be administered by a Syndicate of French and
Burmese ofEcIals.
CHAP. III.]
HISTORY.
107
Both these agreements are believed to have been actually con-
cluded and signed in Mandalay and were *o*be laken by the
Thangyet IVundauk, who spoke French fluently, to Paris for com-
pletion there. If they had been ratified, the French Government or
a Syndicate, on which the French Government would have been
represented, must have acquired full control over the principal
sources of revenue of Upper Burma, the river-borne trade, the only
railway line in the King's dominions, and the only route open for
traffic from British ports to Western China.
These consequences must have been disastrous to British in-
terests in Lower Burma, and a strong remonstrance was in course
of preparation by the Government of India, when a still more direct
cause of complaint arose in the treatment by the Burmese Govern-
ment of the Bomby Burma Trading Corporation, a company of
merchants, chiefly British subjects, who had extensive dealings in
Upper Burma. The Corporation had been working the Ningyan
teak forests under three separate contracts : the contract of 1880,
by which the Corporation undertook to pay the King for all timber
extracted from the forests at fixed rates per log ; the contract of
1882^ by which the Corporation undertook to pay a lump-sum of one
lakh annually for the right to extract the inferior and undersized
timber (*.*?., unsound timber and timber under 4^ feet in girth and
18 feet in length), which they were entitled to reject under the lease
of 1 88 1 ; and, thirdly, the contract of 1883, by which the Corpor-
ation undertook to pay a lump-sum of 3^ lakhs annually from Octo-
ber 1 884 for all superior timber, and one lakh annually for all inferior
timber, extracted from the forests. The Burmese Government
confused the contracts together, counted thousands of logs twice
over, accused the Corporation of bribing the Governor of Ningyan
(now Pyinmana), endeavoured to persuade the Corporation's forest-
ers to come to give false evidence in Mandalay, tried the case with-
out giving the Corporation proper opportunities for defence, issued
judgment ordering the Corporation to pay to the King, by way of
duly and fine, sums aggregating over 23 lakhs of rupees, and to
the foresters sums aggregatmg about five lakhs of rupees, and pro-
fessed to have based their decision entirely on figures obtained from
the British Forest office in Toungoo. All logs contained in these
lists were considered to be full-sized, no account was taken of the
lump-sum contracts, and the money totals were wrongly added up to
the extent of Rs. 60,000 in the King's favour. The King was
asked by the Chief Commissioner to refer the matter to impartial
adjudication and to refrain in the meantime from taking final action
against the Corporation. A letter was sent in reply refusing to
entertain any proposal for arbitration and stating indirectly that on
fo8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. 111.
no account whatever would there be suspension of the order passed
in the case. At the same time it appeared that the French Consul
in Mandalay had offered to take up the contracts for the Ningyan
forests. It may be specially emphasized that the British Govern-
ment was careful not to assert that the fine imposed was unjust.
There is little doubt that the Burmese had some causes of complaint
against the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation, but these were not
commensurate with the fine imposed. The rupture occurred be-
cause the Burmese refused to allow any enquiry as to the justness
of the fine.
Under these circumstances, the Government of India resolved to
take this opportunity to place future relations with King Thibaw
upon a more satisfactory basis. Accordingly the Chief Commis-
sioner was instructed to send to the King ol Burma an ultimatum
containing three demands, which were briefly as follows: —
*'(i) That an Envoy from the Viceroy and Governor-General
should be suitably received at Mandalay and that the dispute with
the Bombay Burma Corporation should be settled in communi-
cation ^-ith him.
" (2) That all action against the Trading Corporation should be
suspended until the Envoy arrived.
" (3) That for the future a diplomatic agent from the Viceroy
should be allowed to reside at Mandalay, with proper securities for
his safety, and should receive becoming treatment at the hands of
the Burmese Government."
Failing the acceptance of these demands, it was announced that
the British Government would take the settlement of the matter
into its own hands, without any further attempt to prolong fruitless
negotiations, and it was added that the Burmese Government would
in future be required to regulace the external relations of the country
in accordance with the advice of the Government of India and to
afford facilities for opening up British trade with China. These
latter demands did not, however, form an essential part of the ulti-
matum, but were left to be explained by the British Agent after his
arrival in Mandalay. Nothing more than a general acquiescence in
the principle of these two requirements was asked for.
A letter embodying these terms was despatched by special
steamer to Mandalay on the 22nd October 1885, the Burmese Gov-
ernment was Informed that a reply must be received not later than
the loth November and that, unless the three conditions laid down
were accepted without reserve, the Indian Government would deal
with the matter as it thought fit. In view of the possible refusal by
the Burmese Government of the terms offered, preparations were
CHAP. HI.]
HISTORY.
109
made for the despatch to Rangoon of a military force of 10,000
men. On the 9th November a reply amounting to anuncondltiona!
refusal of the terms was received in Rangoon. It ran as follows :—
" Minister (for Foreign Affairs] has received the teller, dated the 22nd
October 1885, corresponding with 14th waxing Thadingyut 1247, sent by
the Chief Commissioner's Secretary, Symes The cnntents of the letter
have been considered by the Ministers and nobles constituting the Burmese
Government in full Council, and this is their reply to the several points
contained in it —
*' (:) The judgment passed against the Bombay Burma Company decreeing
the payment of a fine in connexion with their forest case was not passed
by the Burmese Government in an arbitrary mannrr. In consideration of
the fact that they (the defendants) were of Knglish race, the records of an
English Forest office were taken as a basis and the judgment was passed
in accordance with the laws of the State on the merits of the case. This
has already been intimated in previous letters to the Chief Commissioner.
2. "His Majesty (titles) was informed that under a judgment passed in
this manner against the Bombay Burma Company a sum of 23 lakhs and
upwards, including the punishment for excess exportation of timber, had to
be levied from them and paid into the Royal Treasury, and His Majesty
was pleased to say that, although the judgment was one passed in confor-
mity with the laws of the State, yet, taking iuto consideration the fact that
the Bombay Burma Company bad served for many years working the
Toungoo forests and paying revenue, and that they would continue to
serve hereafter for the mutual benefit of both countries ; that if the Bombay
Burma Company presented a petition on the subject of the money decreed
in the judgment against them, he would be pleased to look after and assist
foreign merchants so that they should not suffer any hardships. Therefore,
with reference to the first and second points of letter No. 438, regarding
the Bombay Burma Company's forest case, the need for discussion or nC'
gotiation between ihc two Governments is at an end.
" 3. With reference to the appointment of a Diplomatic Agent, the
Burmese Government, through their wish to maintain friendly relations
between the twn countries, did not act in such a way as to restrict or put
to hardship the British Agent formerly stationed at Mandalay, and yet he
left of his own accord, and there has been no Agent since. If the British
Government wish in future to re-establish an Agent, he will be permitted
reside and come in and go out as in former times. With reference to the
second point in the fifth paragraph of the letter, respecting assistance be
given for the promotion of British trade with China, the friendly relations
between two countries arc based on assistance to be rendered for the
Increase of trade and of exports and imports from one country to the
other. If, therefore, merchants and traders, whether of English or other
race, ask the Burmese Government to endeavour to facilitate trade and
the increase of exports and imports with China, they will be assisted in
conformity with the customs of the land.
"4. With reference to the first point in the fifth paragraph of the letter
about the future regulation of the foreign relations of Burma, the Chief
Commissioner is informed that the internal and external affairs of an iade-
no
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. III.
pendent separate State are regulated and controlled in accordance with
the customs and laws of that State. Friendly relations with France, Italy,
and other States have been, are being, and will be maintained. Therefore,
in determining the question whetlier or not It is proper that one Govern-
ment alone should make any such claim, the Burmese Governmeat can follow
the joint decision of the three States, France, Germany, and Italy, who arc
friends of both Governments, and Minister is confident that the Britlsji
Government will be of the same mind au the Burmese Government on this
point."
This letter was unconditional enough in its refusal of the terms
of the ultimatum and it was followed by open defiance. On the
7th November, three days after the Burmese Minister's letter had
been written, and two days before it had been received by the Chief
Commissioner, King Thibaw issued the following proclamation : —
" To all town and village thugyis, Heads of cavalry, Heads of the
daings. Shield-bearers, Heads of jails, Heads of gold and silver revenues,
Mine-workers, Settlement (Officers, Heads of forests, and to all Royal sub-
jects and inhabitants of the Koyal Empire.
''Those heretics, the English kala barbarians, having most harshly
m'adc demands calculated to bring about the injury and destruction of our
religion, the violation of our national traditions and customs, and the
degradation of our race, are making a show and preparation as if about to
wage war with our State. They have been replied to in conformity with
the usages of great nations and in words which are just and regular. If,
notwithstanding, these heretic kalas should come and in any way attempt
to molest or disturb the State, His Majesty, who is watchful that the inter-
ests of our religion and our State shall not safTcr, will himself march forth
with his Generals, Captains, and Ueutenants, with large forces of in-
fantry, artillery, elcphanterie, and cavalry, by land and by water, and with
the might bf his army will efface these heretic kalas and conquer and
annex their country. All Royal subjects, the people of the country, are
enjoined that they are not to be alarmed or disturbed on account of the
hostility of these heretic kalas, and they are not to avoid them by quit-
ting the country.
'* They are to continue to carry on their occupations as usual in a peace-
ful and ordinary manner ; the local oRicial;; are to be watchful, each in his
own town or village, that it is free from thefts, dacoitics, and other crime;
the Royal troops to hv sent forth will not be collected and banded to-
gether as formerly by forcibly pressing into service all such as can be
obtained, but the Royal troops who are now already handed into reg^i-
ments in Mandalay will be sent forth to attack, destroy, and annex. The
local officials shall not forcibly impress into service any one who may not
wish lo serve. To uphold the religion, to uphold the national honour,
to uphold the country's interests, will bring about threefold good : good
of our religion, good of our master, and good of ourselves, and will gain
for us the notable result of placing us in the path to the celestial regions
and to nehban, the eternal rest. Whoever, therefore, is willing to join
and serve zealously will be assisted by His Majesty with royal rewards
and royal money, and be made to serve in the capacity for which he may
CHAP, ni.]
HISTORY.
Ill
be fit, Loyal officials are to make enquires for volunteers and others who
may wish to serve, and are to submit lists of them to their respective Pro-
vincial Governments.
" Order of the Ministers of the Hlutiiaw (names follow). On the 7th
November 1895, Burmese date recorded by the Wetmasut IVunduttk-daw.
Issued by Secretary Mahamintin-minhla-sithu."
On the 3rd December King Thibaw, the queens, and the Queen
mother with their retinue left Mandalay prisoners on board the
steamer Thooriali, and on the loth of the same month the King
left Rangoon for Madras, whence he was sent to Ranipet, and
afterwards to the old Portuguese fort of Ralnagiri on the Western
Coast of India. The march on Mandalay hardly deserved the
name of a \var. The pace of the expeditionary force was deter-
mined rather by the question of transport than by the resistance
or evolulioiis of the enemy. The frontier was crossed on the 14th
November 1 885. There was a slight brush when Minhia was captur-
ed on the 1 7th ; Pagan on the 23rd and Myingyan on the 25th were
occupied by force of arriving there, and before Ava was reached
an Envoy from the Burmese Court came down the river and, after
some negotiation, the unconditional surrender of the capital and of
the Royal Family was arranged. The collapse of thekmgdom and
dynasty was dramatic in its suddenness.
Our losses were very slight: at the taking of Minhia Lieutenant
R, A. T. Drury and three sepoys were killed and Major MacNeill
and Lieutenants Young, Wilkinson, and Sillery were wounded,
besides' 23 sepoys. At Myingyan much firing on the part of the
Burmese resulted in the wounding of two men of the Naval Brigade.
From the military point of view the scheme, so far as the cap-
ture of Mandalay and the deportation of King Thibaw were con-
cerned, was an unqualified success. The normal state of the
Burmese was one of utter unpreparedness and their army at the
time of the invasion probably did not exceed 15,000. Immediate
vigorous action was therefore as certain of success as the event
proved. The only rapid line of advance was up the river over a
distance of 300 miles. The river was easily defensible by smalt
numbers, on comparatively short notice, if the right course were
adopted. The channel could have been obstructed and the river
barred to the advance of the fleet and, if this had been done, there
would have been a complete check, and arrangements for land
transport would have implied weeks and perhaps months of delay.
The Burmese knew this and had made some preparations to block
the river, both close to the frontier and at Ava, but they were loo
late. The British Military preparations were complete and the
coup was brought off with the most absolute success. National
I1B
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. III.
resistance was utterly paralysed and, if the deportation of King
Thibaw had been followed up at once by the disarmament of the
Burmese army and the occupation of the country, so as to secure
law and order, it is probable that the last Burmese war would have
been as cheap in money, expense, and in expense of human life as
its beginning promised. Bui two causes prevented this. In the
first place ihe expeditionary force was much too small to occupy
Upper Burma and, secondly, the question of the future of the
country was not decided on for some considerable time. The
result was that local resistance had time to be organized. The
Burmese army was left practically intact both in numbers and in
armament, but it had no one to guide it and, worse still, no means
of support. Consequently the several detachments scattered over
the country were left to shift for themselves and commenced sup-
porting themselves at the expense of the inhabitants of their
immediate neighbourhood. That was the ordinary course of things
with a Burmese army and it naturally in the end led to professional
dacoity.
General Prendergast's flotilla reached Mandalay on the morning
of the 28th November, the 14th day after the crossing of the
frontier. Great numbers of people lined the bank to gaze on the
arrival of the British force, but no Minister, or official of any kind,
made his appearance. The Ktnwttfi Afitigyi was sent for, but had
not arrived up to half past one o'clock, so the troops, who had been
disembarked in the meantime, set out for the palace, 4 miles
distant. With bands playing and colours flying they marched
through the suburbs and surrounded the city walls. Colonel
Sladen and General Prendergast, with an escort, rode in at the
Eastern gate of the palace, and the Political Officer sought out the
King and received his complete submission. Thibaw surrendered
everything — his country, his treasures, himself — to the British, and
only begged that his life might be spared, and that he might be
allowed to live in Mandalay, which was the only place in the world
that he knew, for he had probably never been 5 miles beyond its
limits in all his life.
This formal surrender was made in the presence of the military
force in a summer-house (afterwards converted into the Mandalay
Gymkhana) in the palace gardens, outside the ffmannandav.
He sat on a carpet in the verandah, dressed in a plain white jacket
and wearing a waisl-clolh and turban chequered white and pink.
The whole body of Ministers crouched on the ground to his right.
The British Officers with the British flag were in a group to his
left — the place of honour with the Chinese and Indo-Chinese — but
CHAP. III.]
HISTORY.
J>3
also on the ground. Twenty paces in front were drawn up the
long: line of British soldiers. The queens and a few servants were
stationed behind the King. The sun was low in the sky as Colonel
Sladen and the General went up to the King. General Prendergast
shook hands with His Majesty, the first person who had ever gone
through such a ceremony with a Burmese monarch. The King was
asked whether he was ready to leave the palace, and said that he
was. He begged that he might have a steamer to himself and
that Colonel Sladen would accompany him. The steamer was
ready for him, though the Political Officer's company was an im-
possibility, but how to get King Thibawto the steamer was a more
immediate question. An elephant was likely to be scared by the
troops ; three miles walk was a thing the King had never under-
taken in all his life. Finally a dhooli was suggested and accepted
by the King in ignorance of what such a conveyance might be. He,
however, showed no signs of being in a hurry td go and asked for
ten minutes to prepare himself for departure. He asked who
would follow him and the Taingda Mingyi immediately volunteered
to go and so did another ofTiclal. The Kinwun Mtngyi said he
would also go, when he was directly asked by the King, but showed
no great pleasure at being asked Still the King lingered, and it
was not till Colonel Sladen and \wo Staff Officers entered the
summer-house and stood over him that he rose from his carpet.
Colonel Sladen helped the ladies down and the two Staff Officers
placed themselves one on each side of the King, a new experience
which urged him into going down the steps. A procession was then
formed, headed by the General, behind whom came the British
flags and the Staff. The Taingda Mingyi followed in their wake
and then under four white umbrellas, clasping (he hands of his two
wives, one on either side, came the deposed King. The Queen-
mother followed and then came a mass of attendants carrying the
royal baggage, followed up by the British troops.
At the Hall of Audience a short halt was made and then the
party descended the broad steps lined by troops and passed across
the esplanade to the taga-ni. At this gate, once open only to the
Royal Family and lo the highest Ministers of State, now thrown
wide to all the world, King 'Ihibaw paused and took his last look at
the palace spire paling in the last rays of ihe setting sun. The
next moment he was confronted by the dhooli prepared for him.
Into this he point blank refused to get and eventually was jolted
down in a bullock cariiage. Two regiments of Native Infantry led.
Then came a screw gun battery, followed by the King shaded by
white umbrellas and guarded by fixed bayonets and succeeded by
a European regiment. Bands clashed, regimental colours fluttered
^5
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
117
CHAPTER IV.
THE FIRST YEAR AFTER THE ANNEXATION.
The instructions to the Upper Burma Field Force were to occupy
Mandalay and to dethrone King Thibaw. The expedition was there-
fore not a regular invasion of the country and nothing was settled
as to the future administration of the kingdom. Provisionally, ad-
ministrative and executive powers were given to General Prendergast
as commanding the army of occupation ; in other words, the country
was under martial law, as a temporary measure, after we liad actu-
ally taken over the government of the country. Unfortunately, the
changes of Ministry at home in 1885 and 1886 and the unsettled slate
of politics prevented the Home Government from at once entering
into the subject and deciding the future of Upper Burma without
delay. Mr. (afterwards Sir Charles) Bernard, the Chief Commis-
sioner of Lower Burma, arrived in Mandalay on the J5th December
1885, and one step in advance was made when he took over the ad-
ministration of the country from General Prendergast. From that
date, in name at all events, the whole country ceased to be admi-
nistered by martial law. Consequent on the Chief Commissioner's
arrival in Mandalay, the following proclamation was issued at Cal-
cutta by order of the Viceroy on the ist January 1886: —
" By command of the Queen-Empress, it is hereby notiHed that the ter-
ritories formerly governed by King Thibaw will no longer be under his rule,
but have become part of Her Majesty's dominions, and will, during Her
Majesty's pleasure, be administered by such officers as the Viceroy and
Governor-General may from time to time appoint."
Civilians were thus ordered to assist in the pacification of the coun-
tr)', but still the final form in which it was to be administered was not
decided on. There were four methods possible for the re-establish-
ment of order and government in the kingdom of Burma. It might
have been declared a buffer State. Under this arrangement the
Alaungpaya dynasty would have remained on the throne ; the ruling
Prince like the Amir of Afghainstan, would have been perfectly in-
dependent in matters of internal administration, and all that we should
have required would have been the right to supervise his external re-
lations. In fact, he would have become what King Thibaw would
have remained if he had accepted our original proposals, an autocratic
«i8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. IV,
though confederated sovereign. The shadowy claims of other na-
tions, however, rendered this a contrivance of more than doubtful
utility. The next alternative was that of maintaining Upper Bunna
as a fully protected State, with a native dynasty and native officials,
but under a British Resident, who should exercise a certain control
over the internal administration, as well as over its relations with
foreign powers. Upper Burma would thus have assumed the status
of many of the Native States in India Proper. But the character of
Burmese Princes, with their lofty conceptions of supenority to all
created beings, would have made it necessar)- to maintain siKh a ruler
as a mere puppet. A puppet king of the Burmese type would have
proved a very expensive, troublesome, and contumacious fiction.
Moreover, there were only two Princes of the Royal House who
were available. The Nyaung Olc, who was in Bengal, was unpo-
pular in Burma and was of a character unsatisfactory in ever)* way.
He would have been a most refractory puppet. The other was the
Myingun Prince, then in Pondicherry. He fulfilled all the condi-
tions of royal descent in both father and mother and his abilities
were at any rate respectable. Bui the chief event of his life, while
he was at large, was that he tried to kill his father, Mindon Min,
and succeeded in killing his uncle, the Eingshemin.
The only remaining alternative to annexation was to set up a
grandson of King Mindon, such as a minor son of the late Nyaung
Yan Prince, with British Officers to administer the Slate in his name
and on his behalf, until he should come of age, perhaps 15 years
later ; but it was at once apparent that this would have imposed all
the trouble, anxiety, and cost of a British occupation, without secur-
ing any corresponding advantages in the present, while we should
have committed ourselves in the future to a probable disappoint-
ment.
Consequently nothing but annexation remained. It was the only
course which could secure the peace and prosperity of Upper Burma
and of our own imperial and commercial interests. From the isl
of March therefore Upper Burma was incorporated in British India
by command of Her Majesty and, with the exception of the Shan
States, was constituted a scheduled district under Statute XXXiU
Victoria, Cap. 3.
For over three months therefore the government of the country
remained purely provisional and was vested first in General Prender-
gast, then in Mr. Bernard, and then in Lord Dufferin up to the i st of
March 1886. During this time our efforts were directed rather to
check the prevailing and increasing lawlessness than to stamp it
out, and in any case General Prendergast's force, which numbered
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
119
about 10,500 men only, was quite inadequate to occupy a country
covering 75,000 square miles. Experience had proved that it was
not enough to attack and disperse the dacoit bands ; if ihey were
to be prevented from re-assembling, the affected country had to be
closely occupied. It was evident therefore that large reinforce*
ments were necessary, but by this time the season in which exten-
sive operations could be undertaken was nearly over. Two months
of hot weather, April and May, remained ; after that the rains com-
menced and that was no time to commence active operations with
new troops in a country where a great part was impenetrable jungle,
and even in the more thickly populated districts no proper roads or
bridges existed, and the numerous rivers and streams overflowed and
flooded large tracts for weeks at a time. There was no regular
organized enemy in the field against whom operations could be
directed, and therefore there was no particular object in requiring
the concentration of large masses of troops, but the country gen-
erally was overrun by armed bands. Practically throughout the
rains of 1886 the dacoits were not sought out and attacked by us,
but were only being driven off when their attitude was threatening.
The extension of British influence and the reduction to order of
parts of districts remote from headquarters were therefore only
gradually effected. The very suddenness of the overthrow of the
Burmese King militated against the peace of the country. Bands
of men ordered out for the defence of the kingdom had hardly
been raised before the King himself was deported. These bands
became rebels almost as soon as they fancied themselves to be
soldiers. They had assembled to fight for their King, but before
they could fight there was no king left to fight for, and their very
gaihermg together consiitutcd them, according to their notions,
rebels, and already liable to punishment by the new Government.
In the greater part of the country there was no one to disarm them ;
those met at Ava and Mandalay were unfortunately not di.sarmed
and formally disbanded. The ahmudany equally with the levies,
therefore, readily gathered round malcontent Princes, or persons
calling themselves Prince.% such as the Myinzalng Prince; the so-
called Chaunggwa Princes, Saw Van Naing (or Teik Tin D6k) and
Saw Yan Paing; Maung (or Teik Tin) Hmat, a cousin of King
Thibaw's; the Limbin Prince in the Shan States; the Kyun Nyo
Mimha, a pretender who was very soon killed by another armed
band in Sagaing ; the Kyimyindaing Prince, an Upper Burma im-
postor; the Shwegyobyu Prince, who had been a vaccinator in
Lower Burma ; and charlatans and adventurers who went by the
names of Buddha Yaza, Thinka Yaza, Dhamma Yaza, or Setkya
Mintha.
120
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAR. IV.
£'x-officials who fancied they were defending their country met
with an equally easily securtid following, such as Hkan Hlalng, for-
mer Myoza of Mohlaing ; Kyaw Gaung. ex-fr«K of Tal6k*myo ; ihe
Zt' IVun of Yam^thin ; the Theingon Thugyi ; the Windawhfnu U
Paung ; Maung Gyi ; Myal Umon ; Bo Swfe and Shwe Yan ; and
many others whose names (or a time made a stir. Monks too, who
claimed to be defending the national faith, were no less successful ;
such were U Oktama, U Parama, the Mayanchaung pongyi, and
a long list of p6ngyi bos. By far the greater number, however, f
joined the dacoit leaders who were already at the head of bands and "
had been preying on the country for years before King Thibaw's fall.
Of these leaders, who eventually drew lo them all the n.en in amis,
and converted what were at first rebels or fancied patriots into
dacoits, who were enemies of the public peace and of the country at
large, rather than directly of the British Government, the most
prominent were Hla U, who persistently eluded attack and held his
own on the borders of Ye-u, Sagalng, Shwebo, and the C hind win
districts ; Bo Po T6k, who had been the Taingda Mingy^s jackal
and freebooter in Ava and for long paid him a handsome revenue ;
Maung Cho in the Pagan neighbourhood ; Nga To and Nga Yaing
in the islands of the Irrrawaddy above Mandalay and Nga Zeya in
the hilly country north of the capital; Kyaw Zaw in the Kyauks6
district and the outskirts of the Shan States; Yan Nyun, who had
been a Myingaung in the Myingyan district; and many others of
more or less note. In addition to the bands already assembled
when the news of the annexation arrived and all semblance of
obedience to headquarters disappeared, whether to the Hhttdaw
during the interregnum, or, from ist January 1886, to the British
Government, every little group of villages elected its own bo to
protect it from its neighbours, or to attack them. The greater
number acted quite independently of each other in resistance to the
British, They preyed <.n villages which had submitted to us and
on rival iw' villages wlih perfect impartiality and, except some
few, who made speedy submission, became the perpetually renewed
dacoit leaders, whom it took three years to suppress.
A connected history of the operations is an impossibility, but
some sort of record seems due to those who lost their lives in the
settlement of the country. It cannot be anything but disjointed
and it must be taken year by year and district by district. ■
Upper Burma, exclusive of the Shan States, may be regarded as
consisting of four parts, which roughly correspond with the present _
administrative divisions The first is the valley of the Irrawaddy ■
above its junction with the Chindwin ; the second is the basin of the
Chindwin ; the third is the valley of the Sittang with the uplands of
I
I
FrssT Till itm.
fTER ANNEXATION.
tdl
urth the basin of the Irrawaddy
^..u»,,i to the boundary with Lower
4fei« the same dacolt bands operated
therefore a certain amonnt of con-
- this as far as possible in the nar-
ates, which proved the eventual re-
lied, will be treated of separately.
ims first notice. Immediately after
,on, the town, with as much of the
imfi district as could be controlled from
charge of the late Mr. T. F. Fforde,
f Police, assisted in the administra-
■ Myowuns (U He Si, now a C.I.E.,
i ii)i(iank) who had long been connected
nment of Maiidalay, and from the first
ii Officers under whom they were placed,
^late Council under Colonel Sladen's presi-
1 over the Mandalay otTicials. But towards
er 1885 the capital and adjacent districts were
harge of the lilutdaw and placed directly under
l.arly in January Colonel C. H. E. Adamson as-
'I (he whole district. The introduction of order in
wn was no lie;ht task. Under the Royal Govcrn-
lalion of the city and much of the population of the
1 of ofhcials, hangers-on of the Court, and soldiers,
ority of these were thrown out of employment by
. ihe form of the administration, and, as a natural
»ce, many elements of disorder existed and much intrigue
■A\ carried on. Dacoities and robberies, which had been
lu the time of the Burmese Government, continued to be
led. But by degrees the police of the town were able to
and break up many gangs of robbers and to reduce the
- order. The hot months of March and April were marked
' occurrence of destructive fires in the town and in the walled
now called Koit Uufferin. Some of these, no doubt, were the
ik of incendiaries, but many were certainly accidental, and
indalay was always noied for its great firesj which was not sur-
ising in a t<'wn almost entirely built of mat-houses with thatch
nofs. About 8co houses out of a total of 5,^00 within the city
walls were burnt in 1S86, and between 2,000 and ^,500 out of a
total of 34,000 in the town outside. In April occurred the only
attempt at an organized outbreak. Some 30 or 40 persons, who
professed to be adherents of the Mylngun Prince, were concerned
in it. In the early morning they rushed a police-station, cut down
16
122
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. IV.
two or three of the policemen, killed a harmless European Apothe-
cary who was walking to the hospital, and set fire to some houses
in the city, while confederates fired others outside the city wall.
The dacoits fled immediately before the troops and poUce. and it
was only later that some of the ringleaders were caught and pun-
ished. Apart from the destruction of property, which was con-
siderable, and the loss of life, the affair was only noteworthy as
showing the daring of the dacoits, for Mandalay at the time
was held by some 1,000 troops with several outlying detachments.
The early fall of rain at the end of April stopped fires, and from
that time the town was steadily reduced to a state of order. This
was tested severely by a disaster in August. The Irrawaddy rose
to a height greater than had been known for 60 years and burst
through the embankment which had been built by King Mind6n.
All the lowlying parts of the town were flooded and some lives
were lost, while many people were rendered absolutely destitute.
Nevertheless, there were no disturbances, and relief distributions
and relief works did much to secure the good-will nf the population.
Responsible headmen were appointed over small sections of the
town and did much to ensure the maintenance of order and a de-
tailed sur\'ey of the town was begun, as well as the improvement
of the roads. Nevertheless, beyond the limits of the town and
suburbs Mandalay district was almost entirely in the hands of
three or four dacoit leaders, who had large followings and acted to
some extent in concert. The territnrial limits of each leader's ju-
risdiction were defined and respected the one by the other. The
villages were made to pay black-mail, and disobedience of orders,
or attempts to help the Government, were severely punished.
These leaders professed to be acting under the authority of the
Myingun Prince (then a refugee in the French settlement of Pondi-
cherry), and were kept together by a relative of that Prince, a
person who styled himself the Bayiitgan or viceroy, and went from
one to the other, giving them information and arranging combi-
nations between them. Early in January Messrs. Walker, Calo-
greedy, and Mabert, gentleman employed in the forests, determined
to return to their work. They were attacked at Paleik. 24 miles
from Mandalay and after four hours' resistance were killed. Mr.
Grey of the Bombay Hurma Corporation, who was with them,
was taken prisoner to the Myinzaing Prince's camp at Zibingyi.
This was found deserted on the loth January, and near the camp
Mr. Grey's mutilated body was found. On the march to Zibingyi
Captain Lloyd, R.E., and two men of the Hampshireswere severely
wounded at Ht6nbo,
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
In June the Lamaing post commanded by Captain J, E. Preston
was attacked by a party of Shan dacoits, a few of whom got in-
side the post, killed a jemadar and a sepoy, and wounded Captain
Preston. They were driven out by the camp followers.
Bhamo was occupied without opposition in December 1885 and
g. the civil administration was at once organized.
Trade soon began to revive and the Kachins of
the nearer hills tendered their submission. A small force marched
to Mogaung in the northern part of the district in February 1886.
It met with no opposition, and the people received the party with
professions of loyalty and remained quiet after the (roops were \vith-
drawn. It was hold by the Burman Myo6k, who had enlisted men
of his own and had defended himself against attacks made on him
by the Wuntho Saxcbwa. He collected the revenue nominally for
the British Government, but represented that most of It was requir-
ed for the maintenance of his forces. The only signs of future
trouble were some dacoities by the Kachins of Katran on \nllages in
the plain and an attack on Bhamo itself in November by a band of
dacoits. The latter attack was easily defeated, but before the as-
sailants fled they had killed three men and burnt some buildings
near the town gale. The Kachins were not so easily settled with.
Two punitive expeditions were sent against Katran. The first met
with stubborn resistance and returned without reaching Katran at all.
The second, despatched in May, was withdrawn before reaching the
village of the Chief, by the advice of the Political Officer, who con-
sidered that sufficient punishment had been inflicted and was de-
sirous of not being drawn too near the Chinese frontier, the line of
which was not then known.
The Katha district, which comes next to Bhamo, was established
with headquarters at first at Tigyalng, but soon
moved to Katha. A considerable portion of the
year was directed to the maintenance of peace in the immediate
neighbourhood of the postj but some of the local officials, the IVuns
of Myadaung, Mnda, and the Shweashegyaung, early gave in their
adherence and did good service. The district was, however, less
disturbed by organized bands of dacoits than most, and the chief
.source of disorder was the Wuntho Sa-wbwa, whose attitude was ex-
tremely doubtful, if not hostile. His State occupied the high country
between the Upper Irrawaddy and Upper Chindwin and command-
ed the districts adjacent to both these rivers. The Saivbwa and his
father known as the Mogaung IVun, and one of the most faithful
servants of Mindon Min, refused to come in, and a number of raids
took place on the border, the result of feuds between the Sa-wbwa
■34
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER- [ CHAP. IV.
and the local dKaah oC the tovndnps aod cirele« adjaixiii^ Wantlu>.
In this way he haiasied the omtrii^ area at the Slivcixsliegyaung
and bomt the town of Mairnaing. Bat k vas thoaght these were
persooal matters rather than <£rected agaiim the Brinsh Gorem-
ment. The efforts of Goremmcnt were directed to conciliate the
Sa-xbwa and treat faioi as a friend. He vas to be left in undisturb-
ed possession of all the rights and priril^es he had hitherto enjoy-
ed and to be allowed to carry on the internal ad mi nisi ration of his
State without any change. Nevertheless, he did ooi respond to
these advances, be declined to meet the Deputy Commissioner or
lo pay the revenue as formerly demanded by the Burmese Govern-
Dcot, and was inclined to treat the Deputy Commissioner's letters
with very scant coartesy.
Mong Leng (Mohlaing), Mong Mit (Momcik), and the Ruby
R bv M' Mines were practically left to themsdves as far
■by IBS. ^^ ^^^ attempt at occupation was concerned until
December 1886, when a column under General Stewart marched up
to Mog6k. Some slight oppo^tion was met with from persons who
had been formerly interested in the ruby trade, but it was easily
overcome and the district was not afterwards disturbed. There were
rival claimants for the ^'ov^aships of Mong Len^ (Mohlaing) and
Mong Mit, ^jMifi-Shan States with very few Shans in them. Hkam
Leng (or Kan HIaing) had a fair title to the chieftainship of Mong
Leng. Shortly after the annexation he visited a British oBScer, who
somewhat hastily addressed him as Chief of both States. Hkam
Leng accepted this as settling the question, and went to Mong Mit
to assume the SawbTcashy^. The people would have nothing to do
with him and drove him out. He then applied to British officers
to place him in power and, when this was not done, commenced to
make raids on Mong Mit territory and gradually drifted into open
hostility to the British troops.
Shwebo was noted in Burmese history' for the wariike character
Shwebo ^^ '*^ inhabitants and as the starting place of
many insurrectionary movements. It was here
that Alaungpaya was born and with the aid of the Shnebo people
\\c established his dynasty. King Mindftn also began the rebellion
which placed him on the thrdne from Shwebo, and the rising of the
Padein Prince against him took its beginning here, though not with
the same success. The nature of the country, which extends from
the Irrawaddy to the Mu river was very favourable to the movements
of robber-gangs ; vast tracts of uncultivated forest afforded secure
hiding places, from which the bands could issue to attack unprotect-
ed villages. The establishment of the district began with a rising.
CHAP. IV.
FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
I2S
Early in December 1885, Teiktin Hniat and Teiktin Them, cousins
of King Thibaw, effected their escape from Mandalay and raised a
party of rebels at Shwebo. A column was sent against them and
before the end of the month a permanent post was established in
Shwebo town, which was taken by assault from the rebels. The
wiiole country was swarming with hostile bands and the whole year
was taken up with action against strong coalitions of them. The
former Burmese Commissioner, Bo Byin, the Kayaing-^vun and his
son, Mating Tun, from the first readily submitted and raised com-
panies of loyal villasfers to co-operate with the troopi^. On the other
side, besides the royal pretenders who died within the year, were the
noted dacoit leaders, Hla U who maintained himself persistently on
the southern border, Pyan Gyi, Nga Yaing, and Aung Myat. All of
these were brought to action several Times and suffered considerable
loss, but were by no means done with. In Ye-u» now a subdivision
of Shwebo, but at that time a separate district, the same conditions
prevailed and practically the same bands had 10 be contended with.
In an action at Sabfenatha nearTantabin, on the 9th November 1886,
Lieutenant Balfour of the South Yorkshires was killed and Mr. Rcy,
Assistant Superintendent of Police, was severely wounded before the
dacoits were driven off. The establishment of posts at Tantabin,
Nabeikgyi, and Myagon did a good deal to extend the settled area
and to encourage the people to refuse support to the dacoits. But
the disarmament of the country which was begun in May was much
more effectual.
The fort at Sagaing was occupied as early as the 14th December
. 1885, but regular administration was not intro-
^*'"^' duced till some time later. It remained for over
two years one of the most turbulent districts in the province.
Before the end of December the dacoits established themselves in
some strength in a pagoda no great distance from the fort, and in
the taking of this on the 2Sth December Lieutenant Cockeram
was killed and Lieuttnant Lye wounded. On the 9th January
Surgeon Heath was shot dead and Lieutenant Armstrong of the
Hanipshires was mortally wounded wliile they were walking from
the Sagaing fort to the steamer, a distance of less than a mile.
Parties from the fort and the steamer hastened up and four dacoits
were killed, but the remainder, some of whom were mounted, made
good their escape. Throughout January 188O military operations
were continued, and it was not till February that the district was
formally constituted. The principal dacoit leader was Ilia U, who
in March dominated the country round Myinmu lo the south of
Sagaing at the mouth of the Mu river. Active operations were
parried on all through that month and indeed throughout the rains;
126
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. IV.
but though the dacoits were more than once defeated with some
loss, no notable leaders were captured and the defeated bands col-
lected again as soon as the attacking party withdrew. At the end
of April Myinmu itself was attacked, but the assailants were beaten
off withnul difficulty, though Captain Badgeley, R.E.. was severely
wounded. Besides HIa U the chief leaders were Min O and Tha
Pwe. The last named was killed at Pethugyi pae^-oda in August,
but Sagaing district, beyond thi: posts at Sagaingand Myinmu and
at Samon, Mag)'izauk, and Ondaw, remained practically in the
hands of the robber bands. The leaders here were mostly old
established dacoits and they instituted a very effective system of
terrorism. Village headmen who refused obedience and neglected
to pay blackmail, and especially those who had submitted to the
British Government, were ruthlessly murdered.
Ava, which was then a separate district, was equally harassed
by dacoits, but the establishment of a number of
posts strong enough to hold their own and to
send out columns when required, did much to bring it into hand
and to establish a satisfactory process of settlement. British
troops marched through it in December, and in January 1886 the
late Mr. R. H. Pilcher took chaige as Deputy Commissioner. The
central parts of the district were then much disturbed by bands,
who professed to be under the leadership of the "Chaunggwa
Princes** and of the KyimyindaJng.
These Chaunggwa Princes, Teikyin Van Naing and Teit-tin
Yan Baing, are grand-children of the Mekkhara Prince and so of
the royal blood. The Ryimyindaing was a mere impostor and
had been flogged in Burmese times for misdemeanours. He soon
moved south to Meiktila and Yamfethin, but the fighting leader of
the Chaunggwa Princes, Shwe Yan, gave a good deal of trouble.
He seems to have been a professional robber-chief. Towards the
end of January a post was eslablished at Myotha on the road from
Ava to Myingyan and operations were carried on with some effect
during February and March, when a military post was placed at
Myinthe between Myotha and Ava. Myinthfe in December had
forced a cavalry detachment to retire. In January it was burnt, but
Captain Clements, of the South Wales Borderers, was wounded
close by a few days later, while the telegraph line was being re-
paired. In April ineffective attacks were made by the dacoits on the
posts at Myotha and Myinthe, some villages were burnt, and a
bridge partly destroyed in the immediate neighbourhood of the
post at Ava. immediate active operations had the best results.
A post of Gurkhas was established at Chaunggwa and Shwe Yan
WAS compelled to retire to the jungles on the borders of the Pan-
CHAP- IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
127
laung stream and afterwards ceased to be formidable. Later in
the year the Myinth^ post was taken over by the military police
and the troops were moved to Ngazun in the south-west of Ava,
which had continued to be disturbed. The effect of the establish-
ment of this post and of expeditions undertaken against dacoit
villagers between Ngazun and Myotha and in conjunction with
troops from Myingyan against dacoits on the borders of the two
districts was apparent in the improvement of that part of the
country. A combined expedition was also undertaken from Ava
and Kyauks^ posts against Shwe Yan. The dacoits succeeded in
escaping, but a combination which was being attempted was broken
up and Shwe Yan was confined to the wild country in the valleys of
the Sam6n and Panlaung rivers, which formed a safe shelter, the
more so because it was a place where the boundaries of districts
and the divisions of civil and mihtary commands rendered opera-
tions against them resultless without previous airangement, which,
at that period, in the defective state of communications, required
some considerable time. From this centre many raids were made
in all directions, but nevertheless revenue amounting to over ^^3,700
was collected in 1886 in the Ava district.
The Myinzaing Prince was the only active rebel of the Burmese
itsfc Royal Family who was of any real importance.
^ He was a son of Mind6n Min and had escaped
massacre by King Thibaw, partly on account nf his tender years
and partly because, as the son or one of the minor queens, he was
sufficiently inconspicuous to be easily hidden away by his friends.
At the time of the annexation he was 17 years of age. He was no
doubt led into opposition to the British Government by the hopes
of some Influential fx-ofitcials of the Burmt-se Government, most
prominent among whom perhaps was the Anauk IVindawhmu, U
Paunpf. The record of the Kjauksfe district during ihe early part
of 1886 is a history of the gradual suppression of the Myinzaing
Prince's rebellion. He fled to this district, probably the richest in
Upper Burma, when he was driven out of Zibingyi to the east of
Mandalay in January. He was soon followed up to Kyauks^ and
then moved on to Yakhainggyi some 23 miles to the south-east.
A permanent post was established at Kyauks^ early In February
and immediately afterwards the Prince was driven from Yak-
hainggyi, In March Mr. R. H. Pilcher came from Ava to take
charge of the Kyauksfe district and remained there till his death in
October. When he arrived the situation was as bad as it was
even in Sagaing. It had been for three months the prey of dacoits
and rebels, who held their own even within a few miles of the
post at Kyauksfe. The first measure was to keep open and protect
128
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP, IV.
ihe coinmunlcations with Mandalay along the road to the Myit-ng^.
This was done by the esiablishment of posts at Paleik and Ta-
loksu. In May a post was formed at Yewun, south of Kyauks6,
with the effect of pacifying the whole of the intervening country
and two months later the process of settlement was extended by
the esiablishment of another post at Kum^ to the south of Yewun,
where a lance-corporal and Captain Wilbraham of the Somerset-
shires were killed and seven were wounded. These onward move-
ments had had the effect some time before of forcing the Myin-
zaing Prince to retire to Ywangan, one of the small Myelai States
at the head of the Natteik pass. Here the Prince died of fever in
August. His persona! following had for some months been great-
ly reduced, but in various parts of the country rebel and dacoit
leaders professed to be fighting in his name and for his interests.
Although he al no time headed anything like a national movement,
yet the fact that he w:is really a legitimate member of Ihe house of
Alaungpaya must have rendered him always an important potential
centre of disaffection. His death therefore removed a possible
source of future danger and it broke up the most powerful com-
bination in this part of the province. As soon as the Prince died,
his followers quarrelled over the division of the pri*perty, killed
the Ngwegttnhmu (a short lime before made titular Myoza) of
Ywangan, who had afforded them an asylum, and dispersed.
Those who were rebels^ as distintjuished from mere robbers, scat-
tered themselves over the Shan States, and the dacoit portion of
the gang joined themselves on to the various marauding gangs in
the plains. The main portion uf the Kyauksi plain was, however,
quieted by the establishment of the post of Wundwin in the Meik-
tila district on the ist of September. This completed the chain
of posts from Mandalay to Pyinmana and confined the daroits lo
the foot hills of the Shan plateau and to the jungles along the
Sam6n and Panlaung rivers, where, however, they maintained them-
selves for some considerable time, and made periodical raids on
peaceful villages.
Chindwin, as it at first existed as a single district, was an enor-"
mous charge. It included the whole of the
valley on both sides of the Chindwin river and
extended northwards for 500 or 600 miles until it was lost in the
ranges of hills separaring Burma from Assam, over-lapping the
territories of the petty Western Shan potentates, the Sawbwa of
Kale and the Saivhiva of Hsawng Hsup (Th.iung-thut). In No-
vember 1885, the Burmese authorities of the Chindwin had made
prisoners of seven English gentlemen, who were residing there in
the employ of the Bombay Burma Trading Corporation. Of these,
Chap. IV. ] first year after annexation.
139
three (Messrs. Robert Allen, Roberts, and Moncur) were mur-
dered on the launch Ckimiwin by a ihandan'sin as soon as the
news of the occupation of Mandalay arrive<l. Two others, Messrs.
C. Outram and G. Calogreedy, arrived safely in Mandalay, while
Messrs. Hill, Ross, Bates, and O. Ruckstahl were protected by the
Pl'utt of Mingyin and sent by him to Mandalay. The IVim was re-
warded at the time and afterwards rendered loyal service to the
British Government. Other Europeans Messrs. Morgan, Bretto, and
T. Ruckstahl, were also held captive at Kindat, farther up the river.
Towards the end of December a force was despatched from Man-
dalay to rescue these Kindat captives. But the prompt action of
Colonel Johnstone, C.S.I., Political Agent at Manipur, who marched
on Kindat with 50 sepoys and a Manipuri contingent, and arrived
thereon Christmas day, forestalled the arrival of the Mandalay co-
lumn. The troops returned to Mandalay, and it was at first proposed
to divide the Chindwin valley into two districts, placing the Manipur
Agent in charge of the upper part, with headquarters at Kindat,
and constituting the Lower Chindwin area a district under a sepa-
rate Deputy Commissioner, with headquarters at Ai6n. The plan,
however, was found to be impracticable. Colonel Johnstone went
back to Manipur by way of Tammu, which is 64 miles from Mani-
pur, over jungle-clad hills rising to 5,000 feet, but on the outbreak
of disturbances between Tammu and Kindat he returned. He
attacked a body of rebels in a strong position at Pantha, about
18 miles from Tammu, and drove them out, but was himself
severely wounded. He was succeeded as Agent and as Deputy
Commissioner of the Upper Chindwin by Major Trotter. In May
1886, Major Trotter attempted to march from Tammu to Kin-
dat to effect a junction with a force which was to come up the
river from Al6n. He was attacked at Pantha near Tammu and
received a wound, from the effects of which he after^vards died.
He was succeeded for a time by Major Haiies, who command-
ed at Tammu and was severely wounded in an action on the
19th June at Chany6n, 3 miles from Tammu. In July the whole
of the Chindwin country was placed under the control of a De-
puty Commissioner whose headquarters were at Al6n. Meanwhile,
early in February, when it was thought the Manipur Political
Agent could control the upper portion, arrangements had been
made for administering Lower Chindwin district and a Deputy
Commissioner was established at Alon. His attention was for some
lime devoted to the settlement of the country in the neighbour-
hood of that post. In April the garrison intended for the oc-
cupation of the whole district arrived and preparations were made
for an advance on Mingin and Kindat in order to meet the Tarn-
«7
13©
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. IV,
mu force at the latter place in the middle of May. Mingin was
occupitjcl on he 20th April, but difficulties of transport delayed
the advance to Kindat, which was not occupied till the loth June.
No resistance was met with at Kindat, but the force had a trifling
skirmish with dacoits at Balet on the river-bank. The advance
from Tammu was for the time abandoned, and the country between
the Chindwin and Manipur was left untouched till towards the
end of the rains. The Tammu force, which had been considerably
strengthened, then took the field and gained signal successes over
strong bodies of dacoits, notably on the loth October, when Captain
Stevens attacked and drove the enemy from their strongly stockaded
position at Chanyfin, where Major Hailes had been wounded. The
whole of the Kubo valley was thus reduced to order. As regards
the part of the district adjacent to the Chindwin river the following
results had been attained by the end of August. The Chindwin
Military police levy, over 500 strong, arrived in July and was
soon distributed in posts in the Alon subdivision, which included
the part of the district towards the mouth of the river. The part
on the east bank of the river was in fairly good order, though Hla
U gave much trouble and occupied the country to the norrh-east
of the police posts. On the west of the river the Pagyi township
was still uncontrolled and much of it was in the hands of a pretend-
er known as the Shwegyobyu Prince. North of Alon, but little
progress had been made m the settlement of the country, except in
the immediate neighbourhood of the river. The feudatory Stale of
Kale, on the right bank below Kindat, was disturbed by internal
dissensions, but showed no signs of hostility to the British Govern-
ment. North of Kindat, the Deputy Commissioner, who steamed
up and explored the river for 150 miles above Kindat, visited the'
Sawbwa of Hsawng Hsup and was well received. The SaTcb-h'a had
his Stale in good order and required no assistance. Although hi
was allied with and akin to the Sffa'bTua of Wuniho, he did not adopt'
the attitude of that Chief. The Deputy Commissioner also received
the submission of a Burmese JVun of the country lying betwefn the
Chindwin river and Mogaung. No posts, however, were established
north of Kindat, where the country was thinly inhabited and did
not promise much revenue. Nevertheless, except along the river andJ
in the Alon subdivision, little was effected in the way of settlement'
and the Al6n force was continually employed in the pursuit of Hla
U and his followers. In October Mr. Gleeson, Assistant Com-
missioner at Mingin, was treacherously killed at a village some
miles above his headquarters, where he had gone with a small
escort to instal a new headman, and not long afterwards the Wun
of Kanni, who had given many proofs of loyailty, was also murder-
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
'31
ed by dacoits at Myogyi, whither he had gone with five men to
persuade them to disperse. The brother of the JFun was appoint-
ed in his place and punitive expeditions dispersed the gangs who
had murdered the H''uu and Mr. Gleeson, but the countrj" round
Mlngin and Mawkadaw remained in a very disturbed state, and
a pretender, who called himself Buddha Yaza, attacked one of our
posts and gathered round him various leaders from Yaw and
Alon. just as the troops were advancing against him, the pre-
tender fell into the hands of the Kale SawbToa, who arrested him
and sent him to the Deputy Commissioner, Colonel F. D. Raikes.
The Kale Sawbwa himself had, however, not yet made formal sub-
mission, but much was hoped from the mark of distinction which
was conferred on the Sawbwa of HsaM'na^ Hsup on the occasion of
Her Majesty's Jubilee. In the Lower Chindwin the Pagyi and
Pakhangyi tracts were much disturbed and the character of the
country (inaccessible forests with consequent malaria) made it
difficult to reduce. Bo To, the younger brother of the murdered
Kanni IVun, did much ^ood work in the country to the south of Min-
gin, but was defeated by a band at Kale. Trade went on on the
nver, but boats were obliged to take a guard, or to go under convoy
of a steam-launch.
On the opposite side of the Irrawaddy river the Myingyan dis-
„ . ^ trict had been constituted as the expeditionary
yingy»n. forcc moved up the river to Mandalay. The
old Burmese administrative divisions were at first adopted and
Myingyan and Pagan, which for some time was a separate district,
tended in somewhat haphazard fashion for a great way across
the river.
Bolh have greatly changed in their composition since then and
continued to do so until Pagan became a subdivision of Myingyan
and the new district of Pakokku was formed out of the portions of
Myingyan and Pagan on the right bank of the river. At first
Myingyan included part of the present district of Meiktila and
also Pakokku, which was early transferred to Pagan. In Myingyan,
or Talokmyo as [he Burmese very frequently called it, the local
officials soon submitted and the selllement of the country in the
immediate neighbourhood was speedily accomplished. Early in
January 1886, the Kayatngicun, the Burmese local Governor, gave
in his adhesion lo the British Government and continued to serve
for about six months. He then absconded and joined a rebel
soi-disant Prince, the Shwegyobyu, in Pahkangyi on the west of
the Irrawaddy. A column marched through this part of the coun-
try with temporary success and civil officials were established in
Pahkangyi, and for a time there seemed reason to hope that the
1^5
THE UPPER BURMA OAZKTTEER. [CHAP. IV.
Pagan.
township would become settled. But the small posts at Pakokku
and Yet^yo were during the rainy season unable to act in the in-
terior. Tne military post at Myaing gave some protection to the
country, but the Shwegyobyu pretender still had a great following
and really dominated Pahkangyi and Pagyi to ihe exclusion of civil
administration. He did not, however, act much on the offensive.
It was not till a post was established at Palikan^yi itself thai the
Shwegyobyu's power was broken and then he himself suddenly dis-
appeared. On the eastern bank daccit leaders, partizans o( Saw
Yan Naingand his brother, for some lime disturbed the peace of the
eastern and northern parts of the district and the local official in
charge of the Welaung tract southwards towards Pagan held out
throughout the whole of 1886. The early establishment of posts
in Sameikkyon and Nalogyi contributed a great deal to the settle-
ment of the northern and eastern parts of the district, and a com-
bined movement from Myingyan and Ava put an end to the oper-
ations of a leader who called himself Thiiikayaza. Along the river
trade went on undisturbed and arrangements were made for the
building of bazaars at Myingyan and Pak6kku.
The Pagan district as it was constituted in November 1886, on
the passage of the expeditionary force to Man-
dalay, included on the left bank of the river, the
whole countiy from the Myingyan district on the norlh to the
limits of the faungdwingyi subdivision on the south, taking in the
Pin and Mahlaing townships on the south and south-east. It
nominally also included the whole of the Yaw country on the right
bank of the river, stretching beyond Gangaw up to the hills which
separate Burma from Chittagong.
Subsequently Mahlaing and the country to the east and south-
east were made over to the later formed district of Meiktilaand later
still in the year the Pin township was made over to Taungdwingyi,
now the Magwe district. The great asylum of the dacoits of this
neighbourhood was the P6ppa hill, whence they made raids on the
Myingyan, Pagan, and Meiktila districts. It is a remarkable, iso-
lated peak about 4,500 feet high and is believed to be an exiinrt
volcano. The hill itself is abrupt and conical in shape, but it throws
out spurs in all directions and is thickly covered with forest growth
while the sub-features are a tangle of scrub-jungle and ravines.
In the hollows, however, there is a good deal of cultivated land
which escapes the eye of a person merely travelling through. This
region for long remained a favourite haunt of dacoits, and most of
the villages were inhabited by cattle-lifters and receivers of stolen
property, who naturally would furnish no information. The cattle
were kept in large pens, or enclosures, in the jungle and were only
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YKAU AFTER ANNEXATION.
'33
let oui to be watered, and that only when they could be carefully
guarded so that they should not stray back lo their former owners.
At least one prominent dacoit leader remained at large in this neigh-
bourhood till ten years after the annexation.
The Pagan local officials submitted early to Major (now Lieut-
enant-Colonel) Eyre, the Deputy Commissioner, but before long
dacoits under a leader named Maung Cho in the east of the district
near Sb, and under the Kyimyindaing Prince and his adherents in
the south-east near Mahlaing, began to give trouble. Active steps
were taken to break up these gatherings. In January Maun^ Cho
was successfully attacked, but not subdued. In February a post
was established at Kyaukpadaung south of Pagan for the purpose
of supporting the local Burmese official who then and later did
conspicuously good service. A considerable dacoit gathering in
the neighbourhood was at the same time dispersed. The following
month a force marched from Pagan south-east through Mahlaing,
Meiktila, and Yindaw to Yamfethin, encountering the followers of
the Kyimyindaing Prince on the way and scattering tliem with
some loss. A Civil Officer was posted at Mahlaing and a mili-
tary post was left at Meiktila, which was made over to Yam^lhin
district. In June the formation of a post at Sfc, to the south-east
of Pagan, in the country where Maung Cho had again ealhered
his followers, served to diminish his influence, but everywhere the
result was much the same. The area disturbed was gradually re-
stricted, but the leaders remained at large and their bands dis-
persed before the troops, only to gather again on their departure.
Early in July an attack was made on Pin, which had been suc-
cessfully held till then by the loyal thugj'i without assistance from
Government. A force was sent to drive out the dacoits and their
leaders surrendered without resistance. A great deal had thus
been done towards reducing the left bank to order, and this part
of the district was thus somewhat more in hand than many others,
but on the west bank of the river little could be effected. There
only a narrow strip of country was held in the immediate vicinity of
the posts at Myiigyi and Pakokku. Beyond that the country was
practically uncontrolled. Early in the year (he Deputy Commis-
sioner had entered into communications with the local officials of
the Yaw country, an extensive inland tract peopled partly by Bur-
mese and partly by indigenous tribes. In the time of the Burmese
Government the people of Yaw seem to have enjoyed some approach
to local autonomy under their own officials. The leading men pro-
posed to submit, but it was impossible to establish posts, so the des-
patch of a force was postponed, though communications were kept
up with the chief local men throughout the year. The whole of
134
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. IV-
Mtnbu.
this wild Iracl therefore remained open lo the dacoits and rebels
until early in 1887.
The Minbu district at first consisted of the country on the north
of the old frontier line on both sides of the lira-
waddy between the Arakan hills and the conti-
nuation of the Pegu Yonia. It extended on the north to the bor-
ders of the Yaw country and on the left bank of the river as far
as the Pin township of Pagan. The Taungdwingyi subdivision,
which later became a separate district and later still changed its
name to Magwe, comprised the whole of the eastern part of the
Minbu district. The Deputy Commissioner of Minbu, however,
never had time to exercise any control over this subdivision,
and it practically from the beginning was separately administered-
The Minbu (at lirsl called Minhla) district was constituted under
the charge of the late Mr- R. Phayre immediately after the occu-
pation of the town of MJnhla in November 1S85. The Deputy
Commissioner at once began to invite the submission of the local
officials and succeedtid in inducing many of them to take service
under the new Government. By the 15th December almost all the
officials on the right bank had submitted and there was every pro-
mise of a speedy settlement of the district. Outposts were estab-
lished at various suitable places and small columns were sent out as
occasion demanded to break up dacoit gatherings. The garrison
left at Minhla was supported b^ a small force from Thayetmyo,
which was operating in Taungzm, the western part of the Minbu
district bordering on the Arakan hills. Enquiries concerning rev-
enue matters were at once instituted by the Deputy Commissioner,
and within a month from the date of the occupation of Minhla
j^i,ooo of revenue were paid in. The carlh-oil wells at Yenan-
gyaung, which had yielded a considerable revenue lo the royal
Government, were held to be within the Minbu district, and early in
January arrangements were made for the resumption of work and
the realizalion of revenue. In spite of the peaceful appearance of
the greater part of the district, there were, however, indications of
future trouble. Maung Swfe, the hereditary thugyi of Mindat, had
declined to submit and was holding out In the Taungzin township.
This man, who afterwards became very notorious as Bo Swe, had
long been known to the authorities of the Lower Province district of
Thayetmyo. For many years he had been a constant source of
annoyance owing to the support and encouragement afforded by
him to dacoits on the hrontier. More than once he had been recall-
ed to Mandalay at the representation of the British Government,
but had again and again been permitted to return. Al the time
of the outbreak of hostilities he was sent down by the Mandalay
CHAP. IV. ] FIRST VKAR AFTIiR ANNEXATION.
'35
authorities to his former jurisdiction on account of his known hos-
tility to the Eni^lish. Karly in the year, and as long as the Tha-
yetmyo frontier force occupied posts in I'auni^zin, Maung Sw6,
though at times giving indications of hostile intentions, was com-
paratively powerless. It was not till after the withdrawal of the
Thayetmyo troops that he made head and gathered a formidable
following.
In the latter part of February an insurrection broke out In the
Legaing township on the Mon creek and the post of Sagu was
attacked and burnt. This rising was promptly suppressed by the
military authorities and the dacoits were driven to the hills. The
leader of the rising was found to be 3l pongyi named Okiama, who
Ifsoon became as much noted as5/» Swfe and gave to the full as much
serious trouble. In March U Okiama fomented serious disturb-
ances in Salin and Sale, but the rebels were again dispersed by the
troops acting in conjunction with Mr. Phayre. About this time the
headquarters of the district were transferred from Minhla to Minbu.
Revenue continued to come in steadily notwithstanding these dis-
turbances, and in the first fortnight of April as much as ;^2,ooo
were realized. Early in the same month the transfer of part of
the Minbu district to Thayetmyo was provisionally effected. The
transfer was made for the sake of administrative convenience and
with the view of obliterating the old border line between Upper and
Lower Burma. The final transfer under legislative sanction was
obtained later.
At the close of April Bo Swfe occupied much of the country to
the west of Minbu and Minhla. He was attacked in the middle of
May and forced to retreat to Ngapt!.-, a strong position due west of
Minbu, commanding the An pass over the Arakan htlU. But at the
close of the same month the whole western part of the district was
in a ferment and dacoit bands were active un the Salin and M6n
creeks and in the Sale and Yenangyaung townships. Early in
June great encouragement was given to the disaffected by the death
of Mr. Phayre, who was killed in action near Padtin. south of
Ngapfe. At the time when Mr. Phayre was killed Rs. 1,000 had been
offered for the capture of Bo Sw^, who in turn had offered Rs. 500
for the head of Mr. Phayre. Out of this he made great capital
with his adherents. Mr. Phayre had arrived at Padein on the 7th
June and found the dacoits in a strong position inside a walled
pagoda. He established himself in another pao;oda 200 yards dis-
tant and was fired at all night, during which time the dacoits received
large reinforcements. On the 8th Mr. Phayre, with ten sepoys and
ten police, attempted to carry the dacoits' position by direct attack.
136 THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. IV.
They were within 20 yards of the pagoda when Mr. Phayre fell
struck by three bullets. The number of the dac<Mts was estimated
at 700. The dacoits were encountered in strength at Salin, where
Captain Dunsford was killed on the 1 2th June, and at Ngape, where
a stubbornly contested action was fought on the 19th of the same
month, when we had six killed and 23 wounded, among them Lieu-
tenant E, P. Williams of the Liverpools. Ngap6 was then occupied
in strength, but the extreme unhealthiness of the climate necessi-
tated ihe withdrawal of the garrison at the end of July. At the
same time Salin was attacked by Oktama. The dacoits were re-
pulsed and finally driven off by reinforcements under Captain Atldn-
son, who however was killed just as the engagement ended. Ngap^
was re-occupied by Bo Swe as soon as it was evacuated by the
garrison, and by the end of August the whole of the western part of
the district was in the hands of the rebels and nothing remained to
us but a narrow strip along the river-bank. The rains and the
deadly season which succeeds them in the water-logged country at
the foot of the Yoma, reeking with malaria, which is fatal to those
who have not inherited constitutions fitted to resist it, prevented
extended operations being undertaken before the end of the year.
A contingent of the Naval Brigade kept the river-bank clear and
suppressed the river pirates, and the An Pass, which is almost the
only practicable route through the hills into Arakan was held by a
detachment of Gurkha police. But in the later months of 1886
U Oktama practically held the whole of the north of Minbu, while
Bo Swfe was supremie in the south. These two had the strong-
est organization and the most systematic method of pillaging the
country of any of the dacoit leaders, but their success was greatly
aided by the dense jungle, which could only be threaded by narrow
forest paths, and by the pestilential airs. The names of Tainda,
Myothit, Ngapfe, and Sidoktaya became evilly notorious from the
deaths which occurred there. The robber-chiefs knew this well.
Their headquarters were secure at the foot of the hills, and raids and
incursions thence were easy lo places far beyond the jungle tract.
U Oktama in fact established his authority right up to the river-
bank. But eariy in 1887 Bo Sw&, though he was still formidable,
ceased to be a danger, at any rare to established posts. Captain
Golightly, with his mounted infantry, hunted him with untiring zeal,
and more than once, especially when a party of Gurkha police join-
ed in the chase, he barely escaped with his life. Nevertheless, his
orders were acknowledged and his gangs were fed and recruited
secretly by the villagers of the Myothit and Minhla townships. U
Oktama was not pressed nearly so hard, and his authority not only
remained but actually continued to grow. Nevertheless, the revenue
CHAP. I V.J FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
J37
collected in Minbu up to the end of August 1886 amounted to
about ;^ 1 2,500.
Soon aher the Expeditionaiy Force crossed the frontier and the
„ ... Minhla or Minbu district was formed, it was
Taungdwineyi. , , r .i_ . • e i
found necessary tor the protection of the east-
ern part of the Thayctmyo district to advance a column towards
Taungdwingyi, an important town north of the Myedfe subdi-
vision and the nominal headquarters of the subdivision. On the
30th November 1885 it encountered a considerable body of the
enemy al Thiik6!i-kwin and on the 2nd December inflicted a
decisive defeat on them at Nyadaw- Taungdwingyi itself was oc-
cupied without further opposition ten days laier and Captain {now
Lieutenant-Colonclj Raikes, Deputy Commissioner of Thayetmyo,
who had accompanied the column, at once set to wo^k to organize
the civil administration. Soon afterwards he returned to Thayet-
myo, leaving Taungdwingyi in charge of an Assistant Commis-
sioner. Later in the year the Pin township was taken from Pagan
and, with this addition, Taungdwingyi was created a district and is
now known by the name of Magwe. Arrangements were made to
carry on the administration with the aid of local officials who had
submitted and to raise and tiain a force of local police. The severe
loss infliicled on the insurgents in December kept the district quiet
for some time, but later disturbances broke out in several places,
though I hey were rather in the nature of raids than of risings. Never-
theless, Lieutenant Parsons, the Assistant Commissioner, was severe-
ly wounded in the Myedfc township and Lieutenant Churchill of
the Royal Scots Fusiliers at the assault on Thaikyansan. The
Myobin Thugyi who created trouble in February was promptly
dealt with, but later there were sporadic dacoities, and in August a
few houses were burnt in Taungdwingyi itself. The chief leader
was Min Yaung, who had a large follow Ing and could boast of ponies
and elephants. He kept the country somew hat disturbed, but most
of his raids were directed to the south and extended occasionally a
lopg way into the Thayetmyo district. The Magwe township, later
the headquarters, which lies on the river-bank, alone enjoyed com-
plete peace. This was due to the influence of the Burman official,
who had accepted service under us and for a time apparently loyally
tulBlled his engagement,
A column started from Toungoo to occupy Nyingyan on the
-, . 24th November 188:5. The country was found
ma somewhat unsettled condition, but no orga-
nized opposition was encountered and the town of Ningyan was
reached during the first week in December. This place and the
district, throughout 1886, were known by the name of Ningyan,
t8
138
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. IV.
but later the old Burmese name of Pyinmana was adopted and has
been finally retaioed even since the district has become a subdivi-
sion of Yamfelhin. Villages near Pyinmana were early occupied
and at the end of 1885 the district was believed to be rapidly set-
tling down. But the peacefulncss was only the deceiiful quiet of
indecision. Early iti January 1886 the country towards the north
began to be disturbed by the Le Wun and the Theingon thugyi,
f,v-officials from the Yamfethin neighbourhood, and their counsels
eventually prevailed. From the first many of the local Wuns did
not submit and were replaced by Myooks, who raised and drilled
local police. In February the limits of the district were roughlv
defined, and it was separated from the Vamfethin district on the
north. Towards the end of April, however, large bands of dacoils
gathered together and soon controlled all the country except in
the neighbourhood of our posts. The chief leaders, besides the
Li JVun, were the pretended Princes Buddha and Thiha Yaza and
the Kyimyindaing. Throughout the rains, in spile of frequent
military movements and the establishment of numerous posts on
the chief lines of communication, the,^e gangs remained unbroken
enough to undertake the offensive. Communications were con-
stantly interrupted, launches on the river between Sinthewa near
Pyinmana and Tonngoo were attacked and dacoities were com-
mitted and houses burnt not only in outlying villages, but even in
the town of Pyinmana itself, part of which was actually for a time
in the hands of the rebels. Lieutenant Shubrick of the Somerset-
shires was killed in the village of Kwingyi near Thayagon, 6 miles
from Pyinmana, while breakfasting after having destroyed some sur-
rounding villages. The garrison of the dt'^lrict was much weakened
by sickness, and the nature of (he country under the Shan hills and
the climate, which are practically the same as the Minbu terai
under the Arakan Yoma, entirely prevented the undertaking of any
sustained military opcr.itions and the towi] was threatened on all
aides. Large reinforcements at the end of the year and the ener-
getic guidance of General Lockharl broke up the control of the
leaders and kept the various gangs alw.iys on the move leaving
them no rest, night or day. The most successful of the expeditions
was on :he 12th November 1886, when the camp of the Kyimyin-
daing Prince was surprised at dawn. The so-called Prince himself
narrowly escaped capture and his wife was unfortunately shot dead
in the first volley. On our side Lieutenant Eckersley of the Somer-
sets was killed. This action at once reduced the pressure on Pyin-
mana, but the danger of the Yamfethin road had greatly increased.
The dense bamboo and kaing grass jungles at Kanhla greatly
favoured the dacoits. In October they captured a convoy of 17
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
39
carts and on the 1.5th November attacked a party of Madras troops
under Lieutenant-Colonel Anderson, who was severely wounded in
the neck, besides which there were 1 1 other casualties. On the 1 7th
of the same month, however, a column drove them from their rifle-
pits at Kanhla, but with the lo>s <if Lieutenant Greenwood of the
16th Madras Infantry killed. Buddha Yaza's camp was broken up
shortly afterwards by Colonel Beale of the Queen's, the dacoit leader
barely escaping on an dephanl and losing several jingals. Other
actions soon cleared (he trunk road and ensured the safety of
convoys from the dacoits. But the hills afforded them a temporary
refuge and there were still large bands to be dealt wiih, Buddha
Yaza in particular giving much trouble. As might be expected,
little revenue was collected ; the total realizations up to the end of
August amounted to not quite ;f 2,000.
The Yameihin district at first included Meiktila and extended as
,, . . . far as the borders cf Kyauksfe, but in October
Vainctnm, ■«« -i m rr r ■. i ■ i
Meiktila was cut oft from it and with some
parts of Pagan and Myingyan districts became a separate charge.
Yaraithin town was occupied by a force from Pyinmana after
some opposition on the i8th February 1886. From the first the
greater part of the district was in a disturbed state, the prin-
cipal gatherings being those under the adventurers Buddha and
Thiha Yaza, the Kyimylndaing soi-disant Prince, the U IVun
the TheingOn thugyi, and the Mylnzalng Prince's leaders, U Paung
and Maung Gyi. The posts at Meiktila, Mahlaing, Ytndaw, and
Wundwin introduced order in their immediate neighbourhood and
to some extent on the roads between them, though in April Lieu-
tenant Forbes of the nth Bengal Infantry in charge of a stores
escort was killed not far from where Thazi station now is, but the
record of the greater part of the year was merely an account of
dacoities and of expeditions, more or less temporarily successful,
but never decisively so, on account of the elusive character of the
dacoits who sometimes even ventured to attack the smaller posts
such as Yindaw, At the end of the rains the garrison was strongly
reinforced and undertook active operations with considerable suc-
cess against the more important bands. The amount of revenue
collected up to the end of November was over ;f 3,500.
The history of Meiktila for 1886 was practically that of Yamfe-
thin. The garrison was engaged with the Ya-
"" ^' ^' mfethtn dacoits on the one side and with those
of Kyauks6 on the other, while particular leaders, such as Myat
Hmon, Maung Gyi, and Maung Lat, were the local troublers of the
peace. These men had been adherents of the Myinzaing till his
death and afterwards fought for their own hand. Over and over
140
THE UPPhR BURMA GAZETTEKR. [.CHAP. IV-
again they collected their men in the Hmaw-alng foot hills east of
W uiidwiii to be as often driven out. They look refutje in the hills
of Yengan and La\vk>awk when hard pressed and came down again
when our troops had retired. But the district was more in Itand
than any of its neighbours, except Ava and Wesrern Myingyan,
and Hlun E, a former Burmese cavalry officer, rendered valuable
service with a strong force of horse and foot which he raLsed and
maintained at his own expense.
The whole of t886 was thus devoted to the gradual extension of
British influence by means of military operations. T he plan on
which these were conducted was the gradual advancement of out-
posts, the dispersing of the large bands of dacoits, and the pacifi-
cation of the country covered by military stations. In this process
1 80 or more encounters, of more or less importance, were fought.
In few of these did the dacoits offer any strenuous resistance and
in hardly any did our troops fait in accomplishing their immediate
purpose. The total number of those killed in action, ur who died
of their wounds from the 17th November 1885 to the 31st October
1886 was officers i i, men 80: total 91.
The average number of troops employed in Upper Burma during
.,.,. , ., the vear was about 14,000. In December 1886
Military details. 1 ' 1 1 » • 1. .i_
the number had risen to 25,000. It was the
dense nature of the jungle through which they had often to pass,
the want of roads and facilities of communication, the unfavourable
and in many places, the deadly nature of the cUmate, which ren-
dered this number of men necessary and prevented them from
accomplishing more. Whtre loss of Hfe occurred it was usually in
bush-fighting, where the dacoits had the immense advantage of an
intimau: knowledgt: of the country. The climate was more deadly
than the dacoits' bullets. From the 17th November 1885 to the
31st October 1886 the regimental returns showed —
Invalided.
Officers
Men (HritUh and sepoys)...
Total
Died front
disease.
11
. 930
2.03a
The total number of posts held in Upper Burma on the 1st Decem-
ber 1 886 by British troops was 99, and at the same time there were
in almost every district moveable columns operating separately or
in combinalion.
The command of the Expeditionary Force sent against Mandalay
was entrusted to Major-General (now Sir Harrj) Prendergast, V,C.,
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNF.XATION.
141
under whom were Brigadier General White, V.C.,C.B., Brigadier-
General Norman. c.B., and Brigadier-General Forde. On the ist
April 1886 Sir Harry Prendergast vacated the command of the
Upper Burma Field Force and was succeeded by Major-General
(now Sir George) White, V.c. In September His Fxcdlency Sir
Herbert Macpherson, V.C, Commander-in-Chief of the Madras
Army, assumed command of the forces in Burma, but died very
shortly after his arrival. Early in November His Excellency Sir
Frederick Roberts, Commander-in-Chief of the Army ifi India,
arrived in Burma and established his headquarters Jn Mandalay.
With the opening of the year 1887 energetic action began and the
tide be^an to turn. The number of posts held by troops was
rapidly mcreased to 141. The Officers Commanding these posts
and the parlies In the field had acquired a knowledge of the coun-
try ui which they were working. The constant pursuit by cavalry
and mounted infantry was beginning to tell and the dacoils, both
leaders and followers, were beginning to find themselves safe no-
where. Nevertheless, of police there were as yet hardly any, and
District Officers were dependent on military escorts and were not
able to move about their districts freely.
The necessity of supplementing the work done by the troops and
providing perm;inently for the civil administrations engaged the at-
tention of Sir Charles Bernard as soon as annexation was deter-
mined on. In February 1886 proposals were framed and submitted
to the Government of India for the enlistment of two military police
levies each to consist of 561 officers and men, and of 2,200 military
police to be recruited in NorlhtTn India. In addition to these it
was proposed to raise a small force of Burmese police for detective
and purely police work. The two levies were speedily formed and
consisted of men who had already received military training. Both
were in the province by the beginning of July. One was told off for
service in the Mandalay district, with the intention that it should
eventually take up the pnsis required for the protection of the Shan
border ; the other was sent for service in the Chindwin valley. The
military police began to arrive somewhat later and were for the most
part untrained men. These had all to be drilled and disciplined at
Mandalay and other headquarter stations before being sent to out-
posts, or on active service. The local police were raised by Dis-
trict Officers as occasion required and as circumstances permitted,
and received such training as the local oflicers could supply. The
men of the levies did good service in the Mandalay, Sagalng, and
Chindwin districts ; but the Mandalay levy suffered severely from
the effects of the climate of Kywet-hnapa, an outpost on the Myit-
143
THE UPPKR BURMA GAZETTKER. [ CHAP. IV.
ngfe in the Mandalay dislricl;. The rest of the military police hardly
became ready for aciive service during the year.
As the situation and the circumstances o{ ihe province became
more thoroughly realized, and as the extent of territory under admin~
istration increased, it became evident that the numbers of the police
force would have to be considerably augmented. Two fresh levies
therefore were raised in the end of the year. One of these, from
Northern India, was devoted to the protection of (he railway line
from Toungoo to Mandalay, during and after its construction. The
other which was recruited from Gurkhas and other hill-tribesmen
was sent to Bhamo for service about Mogaung. Finally it was de-
termined to enlist a total police force of 16,000, of which 9,000 were
to be recruited from India and 7,000 from Burma, with the inten-
tion that in lime the foreign and local police were each to consist
of 8,000 men. The whole of the force was subjected to military
drill and discipline and was enrolled for service for three years.
For each district a separate battalion was to be formed consisting
of a fixed numl>er of foreign and local police, under the command
of a military officer for the purposes of training and discipline, and
under the ordtrs of the local Police olficers for ordinary police work.
Perhaps the most important step for the permanent pacification
of the province was the disarmament of the
people. Orders were issued for the disarma-
ment of the whole population, but practically what was required
was a re-distribution of arms under proper safeguards. Firearms
were collected and branded with distinctive marks and numbers.
In the case oi dacoit leaders and their followers, or of rebel vil-
lages, the surrender of a certain number of firearms was made a
condition of the gram of pardon. Persons of proved loyalty were
allowed to retain their arms, after they had been numbered, under
the special license of the Deputy Commissioner, subject to the
condition that the holders lived in a village which was defensible
and possessed a fixed minimum number oi arms, so as to be capable
of self-protection. It was found that the possession by a village
of one or two muskets only was a source of danger and a tempta-
tion to dacoits, whereas the possession by loyal house-holders of a
moderately large supply afforded ihem means of self-defence. Ex-
cept in special cases, such as that of foresters working in parties of
some strength, in remote parts of the country, licenses to carry
firearms were not granted. The hcenses issued only authorized the
holders to possess arms for self-protection.
The process was begun in the Taungdwingyi, Myingyan, and
Shwebo districts, and then extended to Ye-u and Sagaing, and in
the end of 1886 was prescribed for general adoption.
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION.
(43
I
I
Although I his policy of disarmament was thus early begun and
was soon extended to Lower Burma as well as to the new province,
the process was a slow one and the final form of the license to
possess arms and ammunition was not determined till May 1888,
after many alterations. Licenses were granted under the Indian
Arms Act of 1878 and covered only the persons and arms named
in them, unless it was specially certified to cover retainers of the
holder. The license is voided every 31st of March and extends
only to the particular district or place named. No one is allowed
to own firearms or ammunition who does not live in a village which
contains at least 50 houses and has at least nine other license-
holders. The village itself must be well fenced or stockaded, so
as to prevent its being rushed and the ground without the fence
is to be kept clear of jungle or cover for the space of 50 yards.
Each license-holder engages to act as a special constable, and to
resist dacoits whenever the village is attaclced and to pursue them
when called upon by a competent autfiorily, such as the headman
of the village, or Civil, Police, or Military Officers not under the
rank of a Myo6k or head constable. The license- holder cannot
carry his firearm beyond the boundaries of his own village, unless
in the pursuit of dacoits, and, if he leaves his village for the night,
has to deposit his gun with the village headman until his return.
When actini^ under authority beyond the boundaries of his own
village the license-holder wears a uniform or badge supplied to him
at cost price by the District Superintendent of pLilice. The gun
must be produced for inspection whenever required by an officer
not under the rank of a Myouk or head constable, or a Jemadar of
Military Police. The amount of ammunition alliwed and to be ex-
hibited on requisition is J lb. of powder, 50 caps, and a proportionate
quantity of bullets or buckshot, and this ammunition is procured
only from the District Superintendent of Police, If the license-
holder lends, loses, or in any way parts with his gun, his license
and those of all other license-holders in his village are cancelled
and the arms are confiscated. These licenses are liable to be with-
drawn at any time at the discretion of the Government. Further,
the number of licenses in each district was fixed by the Chief Com-
missioner and could not be increased without his sanction.
The policy adopted was thus not that of depriving loyal and cou-
rageous people of their means of protection, if they had shown
themselves able and willing to use their arms in their own defence.
It was a measure for depriving dacoits and outlaws of the means of
obtaining arms and for concentrating in defensible positions the
weapons which were allowed to remam in the hands of the people.
The wisdom of the policy was abundantly proved by its results.
t44
THE UPPER BURMA r.AZETTRER. [CHAP, CV.
Whenever a district was disarmed, dacoit bands either disappeared
or surrendered and the people settled down to peace and ordnr. In
some places Ihe wildne^s of the country or other local causes
delayed the process, but everywhere eventually the result was the
same, and the people by degrees grew to understand that they would
be held responsible and would be punished for failure to assist the
authorities in keeping the peace.
Ye-u was one of the districts in which disarmament was earliest
introduced and the results there are typical of what came about
later in all the districts. Already in 1887 the number of guns col-
lected was 1,088, including Hve Jin^a/s, of which 148 were cap-
tured in action. The greater number of ihcse were destroyed, only
the beiter-class arms being retained to be re-issued to friendly and
well-disposed villages. One hundred and ninety-two licenses to pos-
sess guns had been granted and the minimum then allowed to vil*
lagts was five and the only village which was allowed 20 was that
of Madinbin, the native village of Maung Aung Gyi, the Nab^kgyi
Myook. who was loyal from the very first. There was no instance
in which licensed guns fell into the hands of dacoits, and in seve-
ral instances villagers used their weapons with good effect against
dacoits. The result was apparent in the list of dacoit has and da-
coits who surrtMidered or were captured. These belonged chiefly
to the gangs of Hla U, Nga Mya, and Nga Mye Gyi. The num-
ber of leaders who surrendered was 96 and of ordinary dacoits 474 ;
those who were captured were rg leaders and 197 of their followers.
Of those who surrendered more than half were branded as profes-
sional dacoits in Burmese limes. Tliose who surrendered were
released on bail, the bos on Rs, 500 and the ordinary dacoits on
from Rs. 400 to Rs. 200, according to their importance. Some of
these were men of con-iiderable prominence, notably the Ngaya Bo,
Hpo \Va, who was one of Hla U's two senior chiefs, and Nga
Maing, his first cousin. Other bogyoks were Nga Te, Nga Thaw,
Tha Aung, Nga Thfe, and Nfi^a Teit. Many of them and of their
followers took office under the British Governmenl as thugyis, th^oe-
fhaukgyis, gaufigs, and the like, and most served with zeal and fi-
dehly, whik- a few endangered life and property in the British service.
Tha Aung in parlicubr was murdered by his former companions.
Twenty-six of those who surrendered were^^, the paid bravoes ft'ho
formed Ilia U's body-guard and were the most daring in their at-
tacks. Of ihecaptufL'd hos, only three were executed— Nga Taw, the
head of the Kawthandi gang ; Nga .Mya Mya, the head of the north-
ern Tabayin gang ; and Nga Teit, one of Hla U's most prominent
lieutenants. The rest were sentenced tu terms of imprisonment
Tanging up to transportation for life The Deputy Commissioner's
CHAP. IV.] FIRST YEAR AFTER ANNEXATION. I45
report ends as follows : " The general result of our action, military
" and civil, against dacolts is that there is not a single dacoit leader
" of the first class left to oppose us. Nga Mya was captured by the
" friendlies, sentenced, and shot ; Hla U killed by his own confeder-
"ates; Hantha shot in action by the 3rd Hyderabad Contingent
" Cavalry ; and Nga Mye Gyi killed while resisting his arrest by the
" Burman police under Myook Po Thein. All the remaining import-
" ant leaders have been captured and punished, or have surrendered,
" and are now on bail leading peaceful and quiet lives, and in many in-
" stances furthering the interests of that very Government which
*' they so determinedly opposed. The few leaders that are still out
" are men of no influence and have no following. The country is
" being thoroughly scoured by Burman mounted police under the
" guidance of the several Myooks, and captures of individual and of
" entire gangs of dacoits are almost of daily occurrence. The dis-
" trict is perfectly quiet from end to end, and old Burmans who know
"the country admit that they have never known it so free from
" crime and life and property more secure."
«9
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION,
147'
CHAPTER V.
FINAL PACIFICATION.
In 1887 the Military force available was about 32,000 men, with
two Major-Generals Commanding; Divisions and six Brigadier-Gen-
erals, in addition to the fairly drilled and disciplined Military Police.
With this force it was possible to carry out vigorous and combined
offensive operations with a number of small flying columns. Sir
Herbert Macpherson, the Commander-in-Chief of the Madras Army,
was to have commanded the whole of the Upper Burma Field Force,
but he died within a short time of his arrival in the country and
almost before the season's operations had commenced. Sir Freder*
ick Roberts, the Commander-in Chief of the Troops in India, took his
place. The plan adopted was that special operations were to be
undertaken against the more formidable bands of dacoits and the
general occupation of the country was to radiate from the already
established posts. Whenever police were available, they were to
relieve the troops in the occupation of the intermediate posts, with
well kept up communications between them all and constant and
systematic patrols. Outside these lines of posts the chief military
operations were undertaken, and inside them the Civil Officers, sup-
ported by the troops and police, directed their attention to the
settlement of the country.
This had very immediate results. At first the organized bands
had been numbered by hundreds and even thousands, and in |886
regularly organized columns went out against these. It was seldom
possible to bring them to an engagement, and all that could ordi-
narily be done was to disperse them and drive them off. This pro-
cess was now repeated with the addition that the gangs were allow-
ed to settle nowhere. Generally speaking, it may be said that during
1886 the struggle was with large and powerful gangs that occasion-
ally made a stand, or were so numerous that they could not all get
off the ground before the British column fell on them. The sym-
pathy of the people was ihen largely with them and Government
had little authority outside its posts, or beyond the neighbourhood
of its columns, while as soon as these retired the dacoits gathered
together again.
During 1887 the large bands were broken up and their place was
taken by smaller gangs. These had still a strong hold on certain
148
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V.
villages, but many other Ullages had beguTi to submit. In these the
dacoit leaders tried to maintain their influence by terrorism, plain
brigandage, torture, and murder. It was a year in most districts of
hardly any open fighting, of many violent crimes, of endless pursuit
of ever -concealed outlaws. To say the truth the outlaws with their
means of getting early intelligence of the movement of troops and
their system of terrorism maintained thcmselveslittle, if atall reduc-
ed in numbers. But sustained action and dogged persistence in
spite of disappointments had their inevitable result in the end. The
leaders were one by one killed, captured, driven into isolation, and
flight beyond the frontier, or were forced to surrender. The gangs
steadily decreased in number and strength ; they received less and
less accession of men, and consequently less support and protection
from the villagers, as their numbers became reduced to the original
nucleus of confirmed bad characters, and public feeling became
more and more enlisted on the side of law and order. Within
two years a great part of Upper Burma was as free from trouble
as the Lower Provmces. Some districts, where wide tracts of un-
cultivated forest, miles of water-logged country, reeking with mala-
ria, or confused tangles of scrub-jungle and ravines offered the
dacoits safe retreats, were not reduced to order for a year or two
longer, but the result was the same everywhere and, when the armed
bands were done with, there was actually much less crime in Upper
than in Lower Burma.
But this was not effected without very great toil and consider-
able loss of life. The advance on and the taking of Mandalay were
the merest trifle, little more than an object lesson in militar)' move-
ments and instructive manoeuvres for the subsidiary departments,
compared with the work of the pacification. That was a perpetual
record of acts of gallantry which passed unnoticed because they
were so constant ; of endless marches by night and by day, through
dense jungle, where paths could hardly be traced, over paths which
were so deep in mud that men could hardly march over them and
animals stuck fast, over stretches where no water was to be found andj
nothing grew but thorn-bushes, over hills where there were no paths at
all ; and with all this but rarely the chance of an engagement to cheer
the men, stockades found empty, villages deserted, camps evacuated,
endless disappointments, and yet everywhere the probability of an
ambuscade in every clump of trees, at any turn of the road, from each
stream bed, line of rocks, or ravine. The difficulties were also greatly
increased by the fact that by far the greater portion of the country
was absolutely unknown and that for long it was difficult to get
competent guides, in some cases owing to the want of goodwill on
the part of the inhabitants, but far too often because of the treat-
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
149
ment the guides afterwards met with at the hands of the dacoits
or their friends. Many were murdered, others had their ears
cropped off, the more lucky only had their cattle stolen and their
houses burnt. It is impossible to give a connected history of such
a campaign, because it consisted of entirely disconnected incidents
and yet it called for constant individual courage and unflagging
endurance with no such cheering incidents as the charge of a Zulu
impi, or the storming of a position stubbornly held. It is the
fashion to call the Burman a coward, but the accusation is not fair.
He would have been a fool if he had accepted battle with flintlocks
and Brown Besses to oppose against case shot and machine guns.
The character of the country made it impossible to launch masses
armed with da and spear against British companies, and the only
alternative to this was ambushes. TIic dacoit fired off his gun and
(hen ran to some place a couple of miles off where He could 6nd
time to load it again without being disturbed. This was undoubted-
ly his proper course, but it made operations very arduous. Moreover,
it is hardly an exaggeration to say that the whole population was
in sympathy, in one way or another," with the dacoits, though this
did not necessarily imply any personal aversion to British authority.
The Burman, though he cannot be described as warlike in the ordi-
nary sense of the term, has a traditional and deep-rooied love of
desultory fighting, raiding, gang-robbery, and similar kinds of excite-
ment. Villages had long-standing feuds with villages, and many
young peasants, otherwise respectable, spent a season or two as
dacoits without in any way losing their reputation with their fellow-
villagers. If there were any under native rule who had scruples
about engaging in daooity pure and simple, they had always plenty
of opportunity tor leading a very similar mode of life as partisans of
one of the numerous pretenders to the throne, one or more of whom
were every now and again In open revolt against the de facto sove-
reign. As the monarchy was hereditary only in the sense of being
confined to the members of the Alaungpaya family, each scion of the
royal line considered himself justified in raising the banner n( in-
surrection if he imagined that he had a fair chance of success, and he
could generally plead in justification of his conduct that his success-
ful rival on the throne had endeavoured to put him and all his near
male relations to death. These various elements of anarchy no
king of Burma, not even King Mind6n, who was generally loved and
respected, was ever .ible to suppress. Sometimes a sovereign of un-
usual energy obtained comparative tranquillity for a short period by
executing or imprisoning all his more formidable rivals, and by em-
ploying energetic leaders who could break up the larger gangs of
dacoits, but such periods of tranquillity seldom lasted long, be-
>5o
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. V.
cause the efforts to organize a regular army and an efficient police
were always neutralized by the incapacity of the officials and the
obstinate repugnance of the people to ail kinds of discipline. This
had been the ordinary state of the country, and in King Thibaw's
time these ordinary evils were rather more pronounced than usual.
In his reign the authority of the Government latterly did not
extend much beyond the district of Mandalay and the immediate
neighbourhood of the main routes of communication, and, even
within this limited area, there was an increasing amount of anarchy
and niatadministralion. Not a few of the Ministers were in league
with the dacoii leaders, who roamed about Thibaw's dominions
and occasionally, like Bo Shwe, disturbed the peace of the British
frontier districts. All this existed before Mandalav was taken, and
the situation was aggravated by our easy and rapid success in the
advance on the capital, and still more by the delay which followed
in determining what was to be done with the country. The history
of the pacification of Pegu was much the same. It was less than
quarter the area and with less than one-third of the population of
Upper Burma, excluding the Shan States ; it was far more accessible
and, although our efforts were supported by a very large military
force, by local levies, and by gun-boats which could operate in the
net-work of tidal streams, forming the Irrawaddy delta, yet at the
end of the first year of the occupation broad districts were still in
the hands of insurgents and robber chiefs. At the end of the second
year large bands of robbers and rebels were still at large and great
tracts remained into which British influence had not extended.
During the third year parts of the country were still much disturbed
and British officers could not move about without an escort; occa-
sional reverses befell our troops and large rewards for tlie apprehen-
sion of robber leaders were offered in vain. One notable guerilla
chief, for whose capture a reward of over Rs. 20,000 was offered,
dominated and harried the Tharrawaddy district for several years and
finally retired to Mandalay, where his descendants liow live in
prosperity. It was not until 1861, or eight years after the annexa-
tion, that the province entered fairly on peace and contentment.
With greater difficulties and fewer advantages, Upper Burma was
pacified in half that time.
The situation which met us when annexation had been determin-
ed on was this — When the local authorities beyond the reach of our
earlier posts found ihat I hey were not supported or controlled by
any central authority from Mandalay, ihey either commenced to
rule their districts themselves, or they were frightened off by local
dacolt leaders or rivals and made the best of their way to the near-
est British station. There was naturally a good deal of compe-
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
J5«
tition among the upstart rulers, and each one set about strength-
ening his position and extending his influence as far as he could.
Professional dacoits naturally formed a strong nucleus of such
bands and, when we came in contact with them, compromised the
character of all the rest. The usual plan adopted was to send
round orders to different villages to provide a certain number of
guns and a certain number of men who were to rendezvous at a
named spot. This order was generally accompanied by a demand
for money. In this way in populous districts huge bands were
collected in a very short time and the villages that had refused to
comply with the orders were promptly attacked, for even later it
was very seldom that the dacoits attacked our troops. It often
happened that one dacoit bo would summon a village that had
supplied men or arms to another bo, and such incidents establislied
a feud between the two bands. It was very rarely that two neigh-
bouring dacoit bands were on friendly terms with each other, but
this was in no sense an assistance to our troops. These were re-
garded at first certainly as opposition bands starting opposition
bos in their districts. To starve one another and our troops out
they exercised a complete terrorism. The village that refused to
help them or the village that assisted any other band, whether
British or Burmese, was burned and plundered on the first oppor-
tunity ; and they maintained their authority against that of the
British by exerting this terrorism on the country, rather than by
fighting the troops. A band of from a couple of hundred to per-
haps 4,000 would collect with a certain object. When that was
accomplished they dispersed. If they were attacked by our troops,
they almost invariably melted away. They had no intention of
fighting us and never stood unless they were forced to. If they
were lucky and killed one or two soldiers, their prestige increased ;
if they were unlucky and lost some men themselves, these victims
were considered fools for not getting out of the way of the soldiers
and the remainder re-assembled the next time they were summoned,
not in the least degree demoralized. The villagers for long would
give our troops not the very least assistance or information for a
variety of reasons. At first undoubtedly they did not care to do
it ; as often as not they would not, because the bands opposed to
us were composed of themselves, their friends, and their relatives;
and again they had no particular desire to be rid of their local
leader. They knew him and they knew the lengths he would go,
and many of these bos ruled with discretion and moderation where
they were supported and not thwarted. Moreover, it was found
that assistance could not with justice be accepted, even If profler-
red from villagers who did not live under the immediate protection,
»5a
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. V.
err witliin ea^ str&mg distance, of an esubfished miUuiy pose
Unless ihcf were afterwards protected, pmtfbinent by the dacohs
was certain to follow aid or information given to oar colainns
The general procedure of a band of dacoits was to approadi the
village to be dacoited soon after dark. WTien they got dose tbey
began to fire ofl their guns. Usually the villagers bolted and then
the dacoits ransacked the houses and burnt them when they left.
If the dacoit fire was replied to, they made off, unless their band
was large, or they set the viUage on fire by throwing disks of burn-
ing oiled rope on the thatch roofs. The people then seized their
V2Uuables and made off with them and were looted br the dacoits
as they went. As a rule dacoits did not attadc villages which
they found alert and awake ; hence it was a very comnwn custom
for the villagers to fire off their guns in the air from lime to time
during the night, and, when there was any disturbance in a village
at night, all the inhabitants rattled their bamboos to show that
they were awake.
Every village surrounded itself with impenetrable hedges of prickly-
pear, or with matted lines of dry brambles and thorns which coiud
not be rushed and were very dimcult to cut a way through. Behind
this hedge there often stood a sort of mtrad&rs, look-out posts, or
crow's nests, placed at inten'als all round. Any village that was
thriving, or that was worth dacoiting, could be told at once by the
appearance of its defences; but this was no guide in the early years
of the occupation as to its character, since for a long time the most
thriving villages were the headquarters of the different gangs of
dacoits, and later they often supplied food to the robber bands
camped in the jungle near at hand. A favourite site for a camp,
when our flying columns had rendered the villages no longer safe,
was in the dry bed of a nullah, or in a dense expanse of kain^ grass.
In such places when a fire was kindled, they fanned it with a circu-
lar piece of wicker-work called a ban, in order to prevent the smoke
from ascending. This was not so necessarj' in forest jungle.
As regards the atrocities committed by the dacoits, they were
very seldom wanton. There were many instances of the most
barbarous and inhumane practices, but these were exceptional cases
for the extortion of evidence, or to find where treasure was buried ;
on such occasions they spared neither age nor sex. The cases of
crucifixion, of which so much was heard, were not what we under-
stand by the term. A man was tied to the frame-work to be killed
occasionally, but usually he was killed before he was crucified. Any
man who was killed while out dacoiting was tied up on a crucifix by
the villagers, and so were thieves who had been executed and any
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
'53
objectionable person who met his death by violence. The body was
always ripped up after death, which gave the appearance of cruelty.
What torture there was, assumed the form of spread-eagling the vic-
tim in the sun, crushing the limbs between bamboos, or suspension
head downwards in the stocks ; and to that the villagers were accus-
tomed for non-payment of revenue. Crucified persons were not
buried, and in consequence crucifixes, old and new, occupied and un-
occupied, were seen all over the country and were constantly met
with, for they were usually set up in conspicuous places, at cross-
roads or outside villages. But they were by no means always or
indeed usually traceable to the dacoits.
The inordinate national vanity, which forms so prominent a trait
in the Burmese character, leads them to the deepest admiration
for a person of royal blood, and thus the survivors of the palace
massacres had followers almost thrust upon themj while adventurers
found it very easy to gull the population, which they did all the more
easily because the strictest Court ceremonies were maintained in
their bands ; ministers were appointed ; royal orders were issued,
scratched in proper form on tapering palmyra leaves ; proclamations
were issued stamped with lion, or rabbit, or peacock seals; huts in
which the leaders lived were called temporary palaces and the bands
royal armies. If there was no gold and silver plate, then they ate off
plantain leaves, for royalty alone should eat off such a leaf.
The country in which these bands were hunted down was by no
means easy and it had, broadly speaking, three different characteris-
tics, each of which had special difficulties. These physical features
were the lowlying alluvial tracts^ the sandy and comparatively
speaking dry tracts, and the hilly and jungly tracts. The alluvial
tracts, of wHich the country round Mandalay or Kyauksfe is typical,
are extensively irrigated and almost exclusively under rice crops.
From February lo May they are hard and dry and are traversable
in any direction ; for the rest of the year they are either under culti-
vation, or they become swamps and are only just practicable for
transport animals, so that rapid movements are out of the question
Trees and patches of jungle everywhere confined the view to a few
hundred yards. Except in the dry season, mounted men could not
operate and infantry last sight and touch of the flying enemy in a
very short time. It was in this sort of country that the largest
dacoit bands collected, numbering in the earlier days as many as
3,000 or 4,000. The temporary auxiliaries easily vanished, when
attacked, into the numerous villages and the nucleus of professional
robbers had retreats in dense jungle, the locality of which was only
learnt after repeated disappointments.
ao
'54
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER.
[ CHAP. V.
TTie sandy tracts are found in the country between the Panlang
and the Irrawaddy and generally midway between the greater rivers —
the Irrawaddy, the Chindwin.and the Mu. Inside these there were
always stretches of swarapy cuUivation^ but except for these the
country was practicable all the year round. The water, however, is
often brackish for miles at a stretch ; the vegetation is thorny scrub
jungle in bushes or patches, with no shelter for the greater part of the
day, and maize and millet and palmyra palm sugar were what the
bulk of the people lived on and were the only supplies available.
In such tracts the gangs seldom numbered more than 200 or 300,
but the one band ranjjed over a very wide area.
The hilly and jungly tracts were those in which the dacoits held
out longest. Such were the country between Minbu and Thayet-
myo and the teraial the foot of Ihe Shan Hills and the Arakanand
Cnin Hills. Here pursuit was impossible. The tracts are narrow
and tortuous and admirably adapted for ambuscades. Except by
the regular paths, there were hardly any means of approach ; the
jungle malaria was fatal to our troops; a column could only pene-
trate the jungle and move on. The villages are small and far between ;
they are generally compact and surrounded by dense impenetrable
jungle. The paths were either just broad enough for a cart, or very
narrow, and, where they led through jungle, were overhung with
brambles and thorny creepers. A good deal of the dry grass and
undenvood is burned in March, but as soon as the rains commence
the whole once more becomes impassable.
Unmade cart tracks were found almost everywhere. In the sandy
tracts they were open all the year round, but in the alluvial districts
carts could not ply from June till November. None of the roads
were anything but lines cleared of tree growth. They were never
made and rarely tended and the wheels of the country carts cut
ruts a foot and eighteen inches deep and that ordinarily only
on one side of the road at a time, so that no wheeled con-
veyances, except country carts, could go over them. Columns
could never advance along cart tracks on a broader front than
infantry fours and along pack tracks only in single file. It was
not surprising therefore that the earlier columns were compared
by the Burmese to a buffalo forcing his way through elephant
grass. The reeds (and the dacoits) closed up again immediately
after the passage. Unless a gang was come up with before it
dispersed, it was quite impossible to do anything, and in a populous
or jungly district the biggest band would completely rnelt away
in 20 minutes. As the dacoits so rarely stood and when at-
tacked disappeared so quickly, columns composed entirely of in-
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PAClFiqATlPN.
»5S
fantr)' operated at a great disadvantage. They would have to
march for five or six hours» pushing on as fasl as they could and
making a circuit over unfrequented paths and in the end had to go
in straight for the position, for if they halted a moment the dacoits
would have vanished. To follow them up for long was impossible,
for the gang spread in every direction ; ihey were slightly clad, fresh,
knew the country, and could keep out of sight in patches of jungle
and villages ; therefore in the second year's operalioiis great use was
made of cavalry and mounted infantry. They could surprise the
bands by their rapid movements, they could outstrip spies and
when they came upon a gang they kept them in sight and in touch
so that some punishment was always inHicted and the dispersal
was the more complete and alarming. It was only in the hills and
in dense jungle that the mounted infantry could not operate, and it
was only there that serious opposition existed after the cold weather
of 1S87. Even in such places they were able to effect much by
the distances which they could cover.
At the beginning of 1887 the administration of the Upper and
Lower Provinces was practically distinct, although both were nomi-
nally under the Chief Commissioner. A special Commissioner, Mr.
Hodgkinson, was stationed in Rangoon and controlled the lower
prowce, while the Chief Commissioner remained almost entirely
in Mandalay. The Secretariat for Upper Burma was located in
Mandalay and was distinct from that of Lower Burma. After the
spring of 1887 great changes for the better took place and much
progress was made in the introduction of order and settled adminis-
tration. In May therefore, when Mr. Hodgkinson's services were
requited elsewhere, the Chief Commissioner assumed the immediate
control of both parts of the province. For a time it was found
necessary to continue the system of administering Upper Burma
with a Secretariat in Mandalay and Lower Burma with a Secretariat
in Rangoon. But as soon as possible this arrangement, which had
many inconveniences, was abandoned, and from the latter part of
1887 the combined Secretariat establishment was stationed at the
headquarters of Government in Rangoon. At the beginning of the
year the Upper and Lower Burma Medical establishments were
amalgamated and somewhat later a similar reform was introduced
in Public Works administration. A later administrative change of
much importance was the appointment of a Financial Commissioner
and later still the Police Departments of Upper and Lower Burma
were united under one Inspector-General, so that all branches of the
public service in both divisions of the province were united under
the several departmental heads.
tS6
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V.
This was made possible by the systematic operations which have
been outlined above. The Mandalay district
iritts'tn^iS'-sa' ^^ ^'^* reduced to order with conspicuous success.
The dacoit leaders who throughout 1886, and
for some time during the year 1S87, practically administered large
parts of the district, were either captured, driven out, or had sur-
rendered. The town of Mandalay itself, which
necessarily was the centre of any political intrigue
or discontent that might exist, remained undisturbed by any serious
outbreak after April 1S86. Since the beginning of 1S87 it has
been as free from serious crime as any town in India. A Munici-
pality was established, and the Committee, which comprised re-
presentatives of all classes of the community, set vigorously to
work. Many good roads were made, the principal quarters were
well lighted, and a very large number of substantial masonry houses
were erected. In the beginning of 1887 the condirion of the district
was very far from being as satisfactory as that of the town. The
south-eastern portion about Pylnulwin was troubled by the Setkya
pretender, who was reported in August 18S7 to have a permanent
following of 200 men and to be able to call out 300 more when
requirecT In an attack on one of his positions Lieutenant Darrah,
As.sistant Commissioner at Maymyo, was killed, Nga ToandJ^ga
Yaing held the islands of the Irrawaddy and were harbourea and
supported by the villages near the river-bank on the borders of
Mandalay, Shwebo, and Sagaing. Nga To was especially active
and in 1888 burnt a village almost under the walls of Mandalay.
Nga Zeya held the tract o7 country known as Yegi-Kyabin to the
north and north-east of the district. Among many minor leaders
may be mentioned Nga Pan Gaing, Nga Lan, Nga Thein, Nga
Tha Aung, Nga Tha Slaung, Nga Aung Min, and Nga Lu. The
whole district outside the walls of Mandalay was more or less under
the influence of these leaders, who levied contributions on the villages
in the tracts which they dominated. By steady perseverance, and
without demanding more than occasional assistance from the troops,
the district was freed from all these leaders. Three were killed,
seven were captured, and 25 surrendered. The Setkya pretender
was driven first into Kyauksfe district and then into the Shan States.
He was captured there and sent to Kyauksfe, where he was tried
and executed. Nga Yaing's gang was dispersed and he himself
was captured and executed at Shwebo. Nga Zeya, at one time the
most formidable of all, was drivenoutof the district and, afteriaking
refuge for some time on the borders of Tawng Peng and Mong
Mit, moved into Chinese territory. Nga To, the last of the leaders
who gave serious trouble, was hotly pursued in the early months of
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
"57
1889 and every member of his gang was either killed, captured, or
compelled to surrender, though Nga To himself escaped. The
only source of trouble who remained was Kyaw Zaw, one of the
Setkya pretender's lieutenants, who hung about in the hills on the
borders of the Pyinulwm subdvivision and Kyaukse. What crimes
there were were the acts of local criminals and not of standing
bands. Survey operations were begun and regular methods of
administration everjwhere introduced. In the open season thou-
sands of pack-bullocks and pedlars carrying loads began to come
down from the Shan States and from China. The Municipal re-
turns showed that the trade by the Hsipaw route had doubled. In
1887-88, 13,300 pack-bullocks with merchandise valued at Rs.
4,56,518 entered Mantlalay. In 1888-89 ^^^ number of laden bul-
locks was 27,170, and the value of the goods Rs. 7,30,279. The
town and district of Mandalay had not been so peaceful and secure
since the time of Mlndon Min, and dacoity and cattle-lifting had
never been so rare. In some instances dacoit leaders of note ac-
cepted service under Government and did good work in assisting to
maintain order. The revenue collections in 1887-88 amounted lo
^83,326 as compared with ^39,072 in the previous year.
The Bhamo district remained fairly quiet and in fact was only dis-
g. turbed, except in the Mogaung subdi\ision, by
occasional raids of Kachins from the hills. Oper-
ations against the Kachin tribesmen are dealt with separately. It
is therefore only necessary to say here that in some instances re-
prisals were inflicted by punitive expeditions sent to destroy the
mountain fastnesses of the raiders, while in others negotiations for
the purpose of obtaining satisfaction were successfully conducted.
In one case mounted infantry from Bhamo, under Captain Couch-
man, pursued the marauders, came up with them before they reach-
ed the hills, and inflicted signal chastisement. It was believed
that most of these raids were planned or suggested by the adherents
of Saw Yan Naing, the son of the Metkaya Prince, and by Hkam
Leng, the claimant of M6ng Leng and Mong Mit, who escaped
from custody at Katha. Possibly they also were responsible for
the appearance on the Mole stream, north-east of Bhamo, of a band
chiefly composed of deserters from the Chinese army and Chinese
outlaws generally. These were, however, very promptly dispersed.
The Ponkan Kachins, who defied our authority successfully in
1886, and afterwards raided within a few miles of Bhamo itself, also
it is supposed, in collusion with Hkam Leng, were punished and
compelled lo make terms, and this was accomplished almost without
opposition. A militar)' force under General Wolseley occupied the
principal village of the tribe and remained there long enough to
*S8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V.
make it evident that the Government intended to compel complete
submission. The Kachins complied with the terms imposed upon
them, which included the restoration of captives, the payment of a
moderate indemnity, and the sunender of a number of guns.
The Mogai:ng subdivision had been \'isiied, but it practically
remained beyond the limits of our control until December 1889,
when ^ strong force of troops and military police marched up from
a point on the right bank of the Irrawaddy, a little above Bhamo.
The Jade Mines lie to the north-west of Mogaung and are a valu-
able source of revenue, besides affordinoj occupation to many
Chinese and other traders. A strong police post was established
in Mogaung and the mines and the great lake (Indawgyi) to the
south-west of the Jade Mines were visited. The tact and good
management of Major Adamson, who was the Ci\41 Officer in charge
of the expedition, induced the Kachin Sa-ivbwas, who dominate the
tract in which the jade mines are situated, to tender their submis-
sion. But for the treachery of the Burmese Myook, Maung Po
Saw, who had been in charge of Mogaung since the annexation, but
fled when the town was occupied by the military police, the expedi-
tion would have attained its object without meeting opposition.
But Maung Po Saw succeeded in inspiring some of the Kachin
tribes with distrust and the column was fired on several times on its
march back to Mogaung. The troops returned to Bhamo and the
Gurkha Military Police levy had so much trouble with the Kachin
tribesmen that, though they maintained all their positions and inflict-
ed two severe defeats on Maung Po Saw and his chief lieutenant
Bo Ti, notably when in May 188S they made a determined attack
on the town and stockade of Mogaung, a mixed force of police and
troops marched up again in the spring of 1889. They operated in
the hills from February to May, with the result that about 100
Kachin villages tendered their submission and entered on friendly
relations with the local officers, while posts were established at
important points. The ^x- Myook Po Saw and his lieutenant
J^o Ti disappeared, and a military police post was established at
Kamaing on the principal route to the Jade Mines, with the result
that traders could move about with perfect freedom. No pains were
spared to conciliate the Kachins and to show them that, while we
would not pass over without punishment any outrages committed
by them, we had no intention of interfering with their customs or
subjecting them to needless restraint. The Chinese, who are an
important element of the community in the town of Bhamo, and are
the chief traders in the district^ throughout behaved well. The
trade routes to China, which had been practically closed for ten
years owing to disputes with the Kachins, who had to be propitiated
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
'59
before a caravan could pass, was now opened under an agreement
concluded with the traders and Kachins and the former serious im-
pediments were believed to have disappeared. In 1887-88 the
bhamo revenue amounted to £g,2^i as compared with £^,^97
in the previous year.
In the Katha district (still at that time called Myadaung) progress
was made in district administration and in the
maintenance of order. There were only a few
sporadic dacoities of a not very serious type in the south of the district.
This part of the country had been sparsely populated since the rebel-
lion of the Padein Prince in 1 866 and had from that time borne a bad
reputation. In 1887 it was disarmed and the establishment of police
posts in suitable positions did much to restore confidence. The
revenue of the district rose from £3,1^0 in 1886-87 ^^ ;^*9.5*4 "^
the following year. The neighbouring so-called Shan State of
Wuniho caused some anxiety. Early in the year 1887, after being
pressed by a force which occupied the capital of the State, and after
prolonged negotiations, the Saw Sti' a tendered his submission, agreed
to pay the revenue demanded, and accepted the essential clauses of
the terms offered to him. On the whole he acted up to the terms
of his agreement, but, though he furnished escorts to Hritish officers
travelling for long distances through his territory, he would not
receive them himself in a befitting manner and, though he complied
with orders sent to him by the Deputy Commissioner, he would not
go to visit him. The result was a good deal of trouble in the Kawlin
subdivision. While the Wuntho people were allowed to possess
arms practically without restraint, it was difficult to insist on the
complete disarmament of Kawlin. In consequence of this, dacoity
by organized bands did not altogether cease. Moreover, gangs from
Wuntho occasionally raided in Katha. The Sawb-wa on demand
either gave up the raiders or made compensation for injuries inflicted
by them, and once or twice he co-operated with officers of the
Katha district in dealing with dacoit gangs on the borders and was
even said to have punished local officials who were in the habit of
harbouring dacoits. His attitude was therefore not wholly unsatis-
factory and a survey party carried a reconnaisance for the Mu
Valley Railway right through the State of Wuntho in 18S8 and
was assisted by the local officials under the Sawbwa's orders.
Nevertheless, in the latter part of 18S9 special operations had to be
undertaken for the thorough settling of the Kawlin subdivision and
the adjacent parts of the Shwebo district, where Bo Nga Thalng
remained at large. Every effort was made to induce Kham Leng,
the pretender to the Sa^vb-waship of the joint territories of Mong
Leng and Mong Mit, to submit peacefully to British supremacy.
i6o
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. V.
Shwebo.
He was told that his claim to Mong Leng would be acknowledged
and that his past hostility would be forgotten, but he preferred
to remain irreconcileable. He was therefore expelled and the
Mong Leng territory was partitioned between Mong Mit and
Bhamo district. Hkam Leng then threw in his lot with the rebel
PrinceSaw Yan Nalng. In 1887 Katha was enlarged by the addition
of some of the riverain circles of the Ruby Mines district and so
became conterminous on the left bank of the Irrawaddy with the
Shan State of Mong Mit. Notwithstanding the post at Mabeln on
the Shweli river, the followers of Saw Yan Naing and Hkam Len^,
who were established in the hills to the east of Mong Mit, made
a series of Inroads on this part of the district, but these were annoying
rather than serious.
The Shwebo district had always been noted for the turbulence
and lawlessness of its inhabitants and for the
first year or more the struggle remained one with
bands of dacoits of formidable numbers and many of them dating from
King Thibaw's time. The nature of the country was very favour-
able to their movements and wide jungle tracts afforded them safe
retreats, while they were troublesome even along the river, where
Lieutenant C. B. Macdonald of H. M. S. Ranger was killed in attack-
ing some dacoits at the village of Shagwe above Sheinmaga in Jan-
uary 1 887. There had been an exodus from the district dating from
1 882 and it did not cease until the end of 1887. After that, however,
families began to come back from Lower Burma. Gradually these
bands were broken up and most of the formidable leaders were either
killed or captured. Nga Yaing and Nga To, who had also given
trouble in the Mandalay district, haunted the south of Shwebo. Nga
Yaing was arrested by a local Burmese official, but Nga To managed
to escape arrest. The bands of both were completely destroyed
and this completed the pacification o\ the south of the district,
where the people now ventured to defend themselves and to trust
the District Officers when they had news of dacoit movements. The
leaders, Nga Aga and Nga Th6n, were driven from the centre to
the north of the district, where also was the Bo, Kyauk Lon. There
they found safety in the dense forests, but their power of offence
had almost completely gone. Over ;f 20,000 was collected as rev-
enue in Shwebo in 1887-88, more than double the amount obtained
in the previous year.
The Ruby Mines district remained quiet and undisturbed for
about two years after its first occupation. Then
troubles fell upon it from outside, the result of
the vigorous action of thp troops in the plains which drove the
robber leaders into the hills. Towards the end of 1888 it was
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
l6l
reported that the capital of Mong Mit was threatened by a large
gathering under Saw Yan Naing, who had established his head-
quarters at Man Pon, three days* march to the north-east. In
consequence of these reports a small detachment of troops was
stationf;d at Mong Mit ; and after an unfortunate encounter in
which, owing to insufficient information, a handful of troops suffer-
ed a reverse a considerable body of dacoits which had advanced
towards M6ng Mit was attacked and defeated with heavy loss.
These disturbances, however, affected the rest of Mong Mit and
the Ruby Mines district, the garrison of which had been weakened
by the withdrawal of part of a Gurkha regiment for the Chin
expedition. Twinngfe is an important village of 300 houses on
the bank of the Irrawaddy, at that time included in the State of
Mong Mit ; it was attacked and burned by a gang under Nga Maung
of Twinngfe, one of the lieutenants of Hkam Leng noticed above.
Another man of the same name, known as Heng Nga Maung of
Mong Long, for[nerly in charge of the southern portion of that
State, and other minor dacoits from the same neighbourhood
threatened the district and caused a strong feeling of insecurity.
On the Tawng Peng border Nga 2eya, the noted robber chief who
had been driven out of the Mandalay district, was reported to have
a considerable following. A good many dacoities were commit-
ted in the district and the road from Thabeikkyin to Mog6k became
very unsafe, during the rains, when it was haunted by the two Nga
Maungs and one Paw Kwe, an fjv-official of Mog6k and a man of
great local influence.
The military garrison was therefore strengthened and the com-
mand of all the troops and police was placed in the hands of Colo-
nel Cochrane of the Hampshire Regiment, Under his orders an
attack was made on Saw Yan Naing's stronghold at Man P6n and
his gathering was dispersed. At the same time steps were taken
to strike at the root of the evil by improving the administration of
the neighbouring States. The Saxvhwa of Hsipaw was ordered to
reform the administration of Mong Long, a more competent ruler
was established in Mong Mit, and the Sa-wbwa of Tawng Peng was
enjoined to keep order on his border. The military garrison was
strengthened by the substitution of Gurkha for Madras troops, and
the result was that the disturbances were reduced to sporadic petty
dacouies. The commencement of operations by the Ruby Mines
Company no doubt had excited the apprehensions and the ill-will
of the resident miners, who had hitherto held a monopoly of the
working of the mines.
Ye-u at this time was a separate district and on the whole was
fairly quiet, though there were occasional recru-
descences of crime when dacoit leaders were
31
Ye-u.
16a
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER, [CHAP. V.
driven from neighbouring turbulent districts to take shelter in the
extensive forests which cover many parts of it. in July 1887 a
somewhat serious rising took place in the Hmaw forest, an ex-
tensive tract which was a traditional gathering place of dacoits
and other outlaws. The movement was headed by two pretender
Princes, variously called the Lfegaing Princes, the Umedat and
Padaing Princes, Maung Maun^ Te and Min 0. The gathering
was promptly dispersed by a combined movement of troops from
the Chindwin and Ye-u districts. One of the leaders died of
fever and the other disappeared for a time, to be arrested about
a year later in the Lower Chindwin district, where he was trying
to foment a rising, and was executed as a rebel. Later in the
year 1887 an outbreak of dacoity, of a less serious nature, un-
der Nyo U, one of HIa U's lieutenants, was also satisfactorily
dealt with. Notwithstanding these disturbances, the revenue in-
creased largely and various minor irrigation works were taken in
hand with excellent results. Confidence in our rule was especially
shown by the re-establishment of the ancient town of Tabayin, which
had been burnt shortly after our occupaiion of Mandalay, and was
now re-built under the superintendence of some loyal monks, who
among other improvements arranged for the construction of a
police-station at the expense of the new settlers. The civil police
in Ye-u were almost entirely recruited in the district itself and did
very good work under a locally appointed Myo6k, Maung Aung
Gyi. In the end of 1888 only four dacoit leaders were known to be
at large and eight had been killed. The neighbourhood of Wuntho
on the north was in Ye-u, as in Katha, the cause of what dacoity
still existed. The revenue, which in 1886-87 had been i^6,875,
rose in the following year to £i6,$8i.
In the beginning of 1887 Sagaing and Ava, which were then
. separate districts but were amalgamated within
gfl'ng. jj^^ j,g^j.^ ^,gj.^ practically held bv dacoit bands,
who levied contributions on the villages and kept the country side
in submission to them by terrorism. Most vigorous efforts were
made to capture Hla U. Four columns operated in the triangle
between the Irrawaddy and the Chindwin. Several camps were
surprised and Hla U was pursued for miles by mounted parlies, but
always escaped and always re-appeared. Eventually he was killed
by one of his own followers, Bo Ton Baing. Bo Ton Baing dis-
turbed the Chief's slumber by a gambling wrangle and Hla U fired
his rifle over the head of the disputants. Ton Baing resented
this interference with his pleasures and murdered the despotic
robber chief in his sleep. This was in April 1887.
This seemed to promise the breaking up of the band, but his
lieutenants, among whom the chief were Nyo U, Nyo Pu, and MinO,
CHAP. V,]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
163
, remained and aftera sVipht appearance of calm, and notwithstanding
ihal numerous bodies oi troops were in continual pursuit of them,
they steadily gathered strength and the people remained as little
inclined as ever to put their trust in us. On iheAvaside the coun-
try was more disburbed than it had been since the beginning of 1886-
One leader, Shwc Yan, sallied out of the difficult country on the
borders of Ava and Kyaukseand defied the efforts of the local offi-
cials and in one engagement killed two of our officers, Lieutenant
Williamson and Mr. O'Dowda, Assistant Superintendent of Police.
Another leader, Bo T6kj was equally troublesome on the borders
of Myingyan and Ava, and another, Shwe Yan, disturbed the south-
west of the district. Throughout all 1887 there was little Improve-
ment on the state of affairs in 1886. Special measures were there-
fore begun in the early months of 1888 for the systematic reduc-
tion of the district by Colonel (now Brigadier-General) Symons,
assisted by Mr. Fforde, Mr. G. M. S. Carter (both now dead),
Lieutenant Browning, and other Civil Officers. It had been found
impossible to make any way by the methods employed up to then.
The troops marched for days and never saw thedacoits, who never-
theless continued to levy taxes from the villagers and to murder
village officials and whoever was suspected of aiding the Govern-
ment. The boldness of these gangs is exemplified by the fact that
Myinmu, where there was a military and police garrison, was twice
attacked and partly burnt in April and May 1888. Full use was
therefore made of the Village Regulation. Villages which fed the
gangs were removed or fined. The relatives of the dacoits, who
arranged supplies for them and furnished them with information,
both as to the movements of our parties and as to who were friends
of the Government and therefore to be assassinated, were removed
until the dacoits surrendered or were captured. The process was
slow, but it was effectual.
The dacoits had no rest in the forests and no refuge in the
villages, while clemency was freely extended to all except the most
heinous offenders.
By the end of 188S, 26 leaders, among whom the chief were
Nvo U, Nyo Pu, Shwe Yan, and Bo Tok had been killed and 26,
including Min O and Nga Sawbwa, captured, one of them so far
afield as the Pegu district, and seven surrendered. Most of the
followers of these hos also surrendered and almost all of these were
allowed to return to their homes on furnishing security for their
good behaviour. The whole district was at the same time
thoroughly disarmed and the result was that both Ava and Sagaing
were for the first time for many years at peace, and what dacoit
leaders remained at large were engaged rather in endeavouring to
164
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. V.
save themselves than in planning crimes. Since then the district*
has given no trouble.
Throughout 1887 the valley of the Chindwin continued to be ad-
. ■ ministered as one district. But it had from the
'*'"' first been intended to divide this vast tract into
two jurisdictions and this was carried into effect in January 1888. The
Lower Chindwin remained quiet until October 1887, when a serious
outbreak occurred in Pagyi, the south-western portion of the district
bordering on the Yaw country. The rising was headed by the so-
called Shwegyobyu Prince. This man, who at the lime of the annex-
ation was employed as a vaccinator in the Thayetmyo district of
Lower Burma, held during 1886 a position at Kanlfe, between the
Pagan, Myingyan, and Chindwin districts. He remained here un-
disturbed for some time and, when he was driven out, corrupted •
Maung Tha Gyiand other honorary head constables in Pagyi. Mr.
Morrison, the Deputy Commissioner, was wounded in an attempt to
capture Maung Tha Gyl, and a few days afterwards an attack was
made on the Shwegyobyu at Chinbyitj 1 2 miles north of Mintaingbin.
The dacoit outposts fired off their guns to announce the approach
of the British force, and Major Kennedy of the Hyderabad Contin-
gent, with Captain Revtlle, the Assistant Commissioner, galloped
on 3 miles to the kyaungs, where the main body was, with
30 mounted infantry. There was a stubborn fight and both
Major Kennedy and Captain Beville were killed, while two sepoys
were wounded. The dacoits, however, left 40 dead and Maung
Tha Gyi and several bos were killed. This effectually put an end
to disturbances for nearly a year, but the elements of mischief
were not entirely removed. The country is exceedingly malarious,
and it was not thought right to maintain police posts in the Shit-
ywagyaung tract, which is the part of the Western Pagyi town-
ship adjacent to Yaw, where the disturbances occurred. Towards
the end of 1888, as a consequence, another attempt was made to
excite a rising, but the ring-leader, a pseudo-^unce, was arrested,
tried, and executed. Military police were sent to Shitywagyaung,
and the dacoits and disaffected persons moved westward towards
Gangaw and caused serious disorder in the Yaw country. The
rising was not promptly and effectually dealt with by the troops at
Gangaw and the adjacent posts, and reinforcements had to be sent.
The Yaw country was then settled without much difficulty, and the
great majority of the persons who liad taken part in the rising
were allowed to return to their homes. But some of the Pagyi
dacoits, under the leadership of a noted local robber called Saga,
had been driven back to the Lower Chindwin district and immedi-
ately began to give trouble. A military police post was therefore
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
■65
established at Seiktaung in the Shityawgyaung country and a
special officer was deputed to bring this tract into ordnr. The
result was as satisfactory here as in Sagaing. The operations
resulted in the death of Bo Saga, who was hunted down by a party
under the Myook of Western Pagyi, Maung Po O, a nephew of the
Kinwun Mingyi. Upon this most of the gang surrendered and
gave up iheir guns. Fifty dacoiis leaders had been killed or cap-
tured, or had surrendered in eighteen months and the five who
remained were reported as equally troubling Sagaing and Ye-u, a
sufficient proof that they had no definite headquarters and had
therefore ceased to be a serious danger.
A great part of the Upper Chindwin district still remained
practically unknown and unvisited. The district itself was not
much disturbed by ordinary dacoity. There was an outbreak in
the Mingin subdivision caused by the gang of iSo Saga mentioned
above, but they were defeated and dispersed. The Kale Saivb-wa
submitted to the Deputy Commissioner and, though he did not
show much zeal or intelligence, yet he obeyed orders. In [887 the
Chins began to give trouble. A large body of them descended on
Kale from the hills and carried the Sawdn^a off as a prisoner, but
afterwards allowed him to return when he had promised to support
the Shwcgyobyu pretender. The Chins disappeared before our
troops could reach them, and, though military and police posts were
established in Kale to guard against further dislurbante, serious
raids were committed by Chins of the Siyin and Sagyilain tribes on
the Kabaw Valley and on other villages in the Kale .State. The
Siyins and Kanhaws were severely punished during the open season
1888-89, but this was not permanently effective and further action
was necessary which is described in a later chapter.
On the east of the Chindwin river a dacoit leader named Bo Lfe
continued to hold out, though in 1889 he was attacked and his
camp destroyed. This was partly due to the fact that the country
between the Chindwin river and the jade mines of Mogaung still re-
mained unvisited, while Wuntho remained a comparatively safe
retreat and there Bo Le took refuge. The revenue of the Upper
Chindwin, which in 1886-87 was ^^ 1,497, ^^^ '" ^^hc following year
increased to ^£^7,586.
After the death of the Myinzaing Mintha the Kyauksfe district
was for many months comparatively free from
^^" * ' internal disturbance, but in the early part of 1887
it was subject to incursions from dacoits. who found a refuge in
the small Shan State of Maw on the south-east border of the
district. In April 1887 a military expedition visited Maw and dis-
i66
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. V.
ttme
He
persed ihe dacoits, who, however, united again for a short
under a leader, who plagiarized the title of Buddha Yaza.
was, however, very soon put down. In the end of 1887 a more
troublesome person appeared in Maw in the shape of a pretender,
who culled himself the Setkya Mintha. He came from the
Mandalay district and gathered most of the scattered dacoits
round him in Maw. Troops were sent against him and ihcy were
loyally supported by the Ngwegunhmu of the small State, who
bore the Burmese title of Sinvednbo (colonel of an infantry regi-
ment). The Setkya Mimha disappeared into the hills to the east
and remained in obscurity for some lime, but in the latter part
of the rains of 1888 he again collected a following and committed
serious dacoities in the Kyauks^ district. He made a stand in a,
strong position in the hills and was not driven out without diffi-
culty and some loss to the police, but, when he fled into the hills
to the east, he was captured and handed over by the loyal
Sawifiia of Lawk Sawk and after trial was executed. Another
noted leader, Myat Ilmon. who, with Maung Gyi, had surrendered
and afLorwards absconded in 1887, again surrendered with his
followers towards the end of 1888 and, after furnishing security,
was allowed to go and live quietly in his own village. The only
dacoit leader left was Kyaw Zaw, one of the Setkya pretender's
lieutenants, who haunted for a time the difficult and wild hills to
the north-east, on the borders of Kyauksfe and Mandalay, but had
soon to move northwards through the Northern Shan States and
eventually joined the small party which collected round the dis-
affected Prince Saw Yan Namg. .Xlreatly in 1889 It was found
fjossible to effect a considerable reduction in the military police
orce of the district, a sure sign of tranquillity.
The Myingyan district was disturbed mostly on its borders
during; 1887: towards Ava by SoTdV. and to-
wards Pagan by Bo Cho. The part of the dis-
trict towards Mciktila was also not free from trouble until Lieu-
tenant Tinley of the 2nd Bombay Lancers killed T6k Gyaw in
May between Ylndaw and Meiktila. In other parts of the district
the dacoities were of a comparatively unimportant nature. A
rising, which might have been formidable, was suppressed at the
outset by the capture of the leader, a real or pretended member of
the Burmese Royal Family. Bo Tok was killed early in 18S8 by
a detachment o( the Rifle Brigade under Major Sir Bartlc Frere,
and his death relieved the northern part of the district. But Bo
Cho remained at large and another leader, Yan Nyun, a man of
much local influence and an ex-official^ also infested the western
part of the district and committed dacoities attended with circum-
Myingyan.
CHAP, v.] FINAL PACIFICATION. 167
Stances of much atrocity. Captain Hastings carried out a very
successful series of operations, and full use was made of the Village
Regulation, but the very difficult country in the neighbourhood of
Poppa hill enabled 14 leaders to escape arrest, though their gangs
were reduced to altogether insignificant numbers. Between 1887
and 1889, 17 dacoit chiefs were killed inaction, 16 were captured,
and 18 surrendered. In 1887-88 the revenue of the district rose to
jf4i,887, compared with ^^27,388 in the previous year.
The Pagan district ceased to exist under that name in i888'
P kflkk The boundaries with Myingyan were revised, with
the result that Myingyan took all the country
to the east, while Pagan, under the name of Pakokku, lay exclu-
sively west of the Irrawaddy. During 1887 the P6ppa hill jungles
gave much trouble and a police post was attacked by dacoits,
with the result that a special officer was put on duty for its settle-
ment. A partial settlement of the Yaw country was effected
early in 1887, but the country was not thoroughly explored and
opened up, and in the end of the year the Shwegyobyu's adherents,
Ya Kut, one of the most influential of the local officials, and a
dacoit leader named Tha Do, who came from Minbu in the
south, ovenan this tract. In the following open season energetic
measures were taken. Tha Do was killed and Ya Kut arrested
by loyal villagers, tried, and shot, and a local militia was raised
among the people to undertake their own protection. The Chins
on the hills above Yaw threatened to give trouble and attempts
were made to secure their submission, but with no more success
than was experienced in the Chindwin district. The rest of the
district was disturbed a good deal by local dacoities, but none of
the gangs were of any strength, and the military police, who here,
as elsewhere, were beginning to learn their work, were quite able
to deal with them, the more so since the people began to give re-
gular information and themselves on more than one occasion beat
off dacoits. In Pagan the revenue, which for the first year had
been only ^^10,835, rose in the following year to ;^42,o95.
In Minbu at the beginning of 1887 Bo Swfe held the south and
the pongyi Oktama the north. The former was
the more dangerous and aggressive and, as soon
as the weather permitted, a general advance was made on him
from the river. The different columns met with the slightest
possible opposition, though in skirmishes with outposts and rear-
guards Lieutenant Radclyffe of the Rifle Brigade and Lieu-
tenant Poole of the Liverpools were wounded, but the large bands
were thus finally broken up and the dacoits were forced out of
the villages under the eastern slopes of the Arakan hills which
i68
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V.
had been their headquarters up till then. The upper portions of
the M6n, the Ki, and the Man rivers were cleared and ihe bands
were driven, some into the slopes of the Arakan Yoma, and others,
broken up imo bands of lo or 20, into the central and lower ranges
of hills. These bands were then hunted without cessation by the
mounted infantry and cavalry under Captain Golightly, Lieutenants
Wesllake and Armytage, and others. They were safe neither in the
jungle, nor high up on the Arakan hills. Their camps were sur-
prised, guns, ponies, and arms seized, and the leaders were soon
fugitives, with none but their personal attendants. Bo Sw6 was
hunted from the district altogether and in October 1887 was killed
with 10 of his men near Milang6n in the Thayetmyo district by a
party under Major Harvey of the South Wales Borderers. The
south of the district was thus got into hand and remained fairly
peaceful after April 1887. But there were other leaders, ByaingGyi,
Nga Hmaw, Tha Do, Tha Tu, besides 6ktama and Okiaya, another
monk, his principal heutenant. These had not been left at peace
by the troops, but in the north the influence of (!)ktama was deeply
rooted, the people through fear or sympathy were entirely on his
side, and for months but little impression was made on his position.
In April, Salin and Sinbyugyun were attacked, and throughout the
rains of 1887 the Salin subdivision was disturbed by constant da-
coilies. Captain Rendle of the 8th Madras Infantry was killed in
an attack made on Sid6ktaya in September 1887. The active ope-
rations of the following open season were not much more successful,
and in April 1888, therefore, a resolute effort was made lo break
Oktama's power. He and his leading followers were formally pro-
claimed as rebels and declared beyond the hope of pardon, while a
promise of amnesty was held out to all minor offenders who surren-
dered with their arms by a fixed date. At the same time military
and police operations were actively pressed, the Village Regulation
was enforced for the punishment of passive sympathisers with the
rebels, and people who displayed courage and loyalty were reward-
ed for their services. One thousand two hundred and four persons
took advantage of the promise of amnesty and surrendered on the
terms offered to them and Oktama's power seemed to be finally
broken. But there were still spasmodic efforts made, and in the
end of 1888 the Burman police post at Sagu was vigorously at-
tacked. Gradually, however, systematic vigilance and pursuit pre-
vailed. Tun Zan was killed by his own followers in December 1888,
Nga Hmaw was killed in January 1889 and most of his follow-
ers surrendered, and Tha Tu was captured in April. In June 1889
Oktama was captured by a Burman Myook. He had no more than
one follower with him. His chief leader, Oktaya, had been taken
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
169
only a few days before and Byaing GyJ, a leader who had given
much trouble, was given up by his own men about the same lime.
The list of dacoit leaders killed, captured, or surrendered after April
1887 in the Minbu district made up a total of 106. At the end
of 1889 only eight were known to be unaccounted for and they
were all in hiding in the juntjles along the old British border.
The district had been almost the most troublesome in Upper
Burma and much credit was due to the sustained efforts of the
Deputy Commissioner, Mr. Hartnoll, and his Assistants, Mr. Col-
lins and Mr. Hertz. Assistance was given to villagers in repairing
the weirs and water-channels on which the prosperity of part of the
district depends, and advances were given for seed-grain and work
provided for surrendered dacoits and others on the district roads.
The revenue of Minbu in 1887-88 amounted to £61,4^4^^ a sum
larger than that collected in any district, except Mandalay and
much larger than the sum j^36,4i[ collected in 1886-87, which
was the largest for that year. On the left bank of the river, the
Yenangyaung subdivision, which until 1888 formed part of Minbu,
but was then transferred to Magwe, was somewhat disturbed, and
more than one attack was made on the village of Yenangyaung
itself, but one at least of these seems to have been of the old
style of private warfare prevalent in Burmese times, rather than of
disaffection to the British Government.
In 1887 Taungdwingyi, or Magwe as it was named after Yenan-
gyaung was added in 1888, was much troubled
* " by the influential rebel Min Yaung, who held the
hilly tract between Taungdwingyi and Pyinmana. After a series of
encounters he was at last come up with and killed in May 1887.
After him Tok Gyi disturbed the district from the same convenient
shelter to the east and he was not captured till April 1888. The
hilly character of some part of the country made it no doubt some-
what difficult to pacify, but the military police battalion of this
district, which had been recruited in Bombay, was far below the
efficiency of those in other parts of the country. As a consequence
dacoit bands were allowed to gather strength and escaped un-
punished, and in 1889 Magwe was the only district where dacoities
on a large scale were of almost daily occurrence.
There were seven separate dacoit gangs under Nga Lfe, Shwe Daik,
Tin Baw, B6k Yaw, Pago Bo, Paw Din, Na Ya, besides other less
prominent leaders. In August 1888 a plan for a rising on behalf
of a pretender styling himself the Shwe Km Yo Prince was concerted
on the borders of the Magwe township. Bo Lfe and other leaders
from Magwe, besides some of the Natmauk and Taungdwingyi
23
170
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V-
Chiefs, were concerned in this. The first overt act was committed
in November, and almost immediately afterwards the dacoits receiv-
ed encouragement from their success in an encounter with a party
of military police, which they repulsed with loss. After this the
combined bands separated, some going to Yenangyaung, some to
Pin, some to Taungdwingyi, and some to Natmauk, while somi
joined the bands of Tinbaw and Shwc Daik. In January the combin-
ed bands of these last two and Nga Lh successfully surprised a party
of sepoys of the Myingvan military police, but were soon after-
wards encountered and for a time dispersed by mounted infantry
from Magwc, Desultory encounters, with varying fortunes, follow-
ed through March and April 1889, and in May Nga Le was killed^
and his band destroyed by the mounted infantry. Meanwhile there
were constant dacoities in Taungdwlngvisubdivision, where the Vil-
lage Regulation was injudiciously applied and the local native oHi-
cers were unpopular.
In April a gang of over 100 dacoits attacked the village of Myo-
ihit and burnt the police post there. In May a large band under
the leadership of Buddha Yaza assembled in the Pin township;
gangs from all parts joined him and did much mischief before It
was dispersed after repeated encounters. On the ist June Mr.
Dyson, Assistant Comm'issiontTj was killed by a small body of
dacoits, whom he attacked with police. The leader, Thaya, was
afterwards killed and his band surrendered. The General Command-
ing the Myingyan district therefore Soon after this assumed full
control of the operations with the Civil and Police officers under his
orders. Genera! Symons strengthened the force of troops and mili-
tary police and an offer of indemnity was made to all dacoits, ex-
cept one or two specified leaders, who had not been actually con-
cerned in murder. More than 150 men, principally in the Pm and
Yenangyaung townships, availed themselves of the amnesty and
surrendered. The offer of pardon oriijinally made in June for one
month was extended up to the end of September. Nevertheless, at
the end nf September the most disturbed portion of the district
was the Taungdwingyi subdivision, where, except for the capture of
Shwe Aung and his gang, but little headway had been made, while
the Yomas, the hill country between the Eastern and Southern di-
visions, had not been touched, and in this remote and unknown tract
various dacoit leaders had found a refuge. At the end of 1889
therefore Magwe remained a year behind the other districts of the
upper province. Nevertheless, the revenue increased largely during
1887-88. It was :£"5»4g7 in 1887 and £•26,'} i6 in the following
year. The headquarters were moved at the end of the year from
Taungdwingyi to Magwe.
CHAP, v.] FINAL PACIFICATION. 171
In the early months of 1887 Meiktila district continued to be dis-
.. turbed by a formidable combination of dacoits,
who held a strong position at Hmaw-aing, and
on the west by the powerful leader T6k Gyaw. Combined oper-
ations against the Hmaw-aing dacoits were undertaken from
Kyauksfe and Meiktila, in which Lieutenant Reid of the 27th
Punjab Infantry was wounded and severe loss was inflicted on the
dacoits then and in a subsequent attack. As a result some of
the principal leaders surrendered In May 1887, and in the same
month Tok Gyaw and many of his followers were killed by our
troops. One of the Hmaw-aing Chiefs took service and after-
wards did good work as a police officer, while of two others who
took to flight after they had submitted, Myat Hm6n again sub-
mitted at Kyauksfe and the other Maung Kala died of cholera,
and the northern part of the district remained undisturbed. The
south-west, however, bordering on Pagan, was constantly harassed
by dacoits, who carried off large numbers of cattle. Many of these
gangs were tracked and punished and in the district itself no large
gangs and no leaders remained as early as the end of 1887. What
dacoities occurred were of an entirely petty kind and the robbers
usually came from the Poppa and WMaung fastnesses. The re-
results of effective disarmament were very conspicuous in Meiktila.
The revenue, which was £^^,1 14 in 1886-87, ^^^^ *o £^1i^4S ^^ ^^e
lollowing year.
Yam6thin was in an equally satisfactory condition. It was only
,, , . . disturbed by broken bands from neighbouring
districts and the dacoities were not 01 a serious
type. Crime of this kind could not be put down till the Poppa,
Pin, and Yoma bands were finally broken up. From £^,481 in
1886-87 ^he revenue increased to ^f 22,080 in the following year,
and in 1889 the strength of the military police force was consider-
ably reduced, with no loss of security to the people.
In Pyinmana great activity was displayed in 1887 by the troops
and the police in thoroughly exploring the forests and clearing
them of dacoits. The disarmament of the district was at the
same time vigorously enforced and men of local influence greatly
assisted our officers in the process. With the rains there was a
partial recrudescence of disorder. Some troublesome gangs collect-
ed in the hills on the east of the Sittang river under the protection
of the Karen Chief of Ethataung and of other local men. From
these hills they committed raids on the plains and carried off ele-
phants and buffaloes from the forests. In April i888aBurman
police post, 6 miles from Pyinmana. was attacked and burned by
a gang of 50 dacoits and in May a similar but outlying post at
17a
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER.
CHAP. V.
Seikpyudaung was destroyed by a large gang. Between March
and bepteraSer large gangs of dacoics on three occasions at-
ucked Karen guards in the forests, and in the 6rst seven
months of the year 143 violent crimes were reported. At the
end of October 18S8 there were in the district four large gangs
of dacoils under Nga HIauk aiid Tok Gyi, Tha Hlaing, Nga
Nan, and San Pe. In the banning of 1889 the Village Re-
gulation was enforced and villages which were known or rea-
sonably believed to harbour dacoits were removed to the neigh-
bourhood of police posts. At the end of February the combin-
ed bands of Tha Hlaing and San Pe were attacked and had
broken up. The leaders retired to the petty Karen State of Bawgata
in the hills and thence raided on the plains. The Deputy Commis-
sioner followed ihem up with a party of military police. The Chief
of Bawgata submitted and the dacoits fled east to the Mong Pai
hills and ceased to be a danger. The other robber gangs were
equally disposed of. From January to September 1889 17 dacoits
were killed and 62 arrested, while 17 surrendered unconditionally.
None remained at large, except those who were professional dacoits
from Burmese times, or who had made clemency impossible by their
crimes. The Bombay Burma Trading Corporation was able to ex-
tend its operations and increase its establishments far beyond any
previously attempted area or strength.
By the end of the rains of 1889 all the large gangs of rebels that
Situation at the end had SO long opposed our troops m the plains had
*>* »88g. been completely broken up. The utter hope-
lessness of resistance in the open was realized and the establish-
ment of a series of posts had driven the remnants of once powerful
bands to take refuge in the inaccessible broken tracts which form
so marked a feature of Upper Burma, in such places were now
fathered the dacoit leaders from many districts. Buddha Yaza,
'hiha Yaza, Shwe Daik, Tin Saw, Lugale Gyi, and Aungbaw were
crowded into the hilly country of the Yomas lying between Magwe,
Pyinmana, and Yam^thin. The wild country round Poppa hill af-
forded shelter to Bo Cho, Shwe Hmok, Thagyaw, Kangyi, Nga
Hm6n, Nga Thaw, and Yan Nyun. What remained of the follow-
ers of the Setkya Mintha rallied round Kyaw Zaw in the jungles
on the banks of the Myit-ng6. Saw Yan Naing, the last of King
Mind6n's grandsons who held out against us, had retired to the
Kachin hills lying between Mong Mit, Tawng Peng, and Hsen Wi.
With him were now Hkam Leng, the pretender to the Mong Leng
State, and bo Zeya, the notorious Shan freebooter, who so long dis-
turbed the Mandalay district. West of the Irrawaddy the situation
_ was similar. In Minbu the sons of Bo Swfe, Saw Uj and Saw Pu
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION,
173
were wandering with a small following in the dense jungle at the
foot of the Arakan Yonia, on the old frontier line. Further north
the Shwegj'obyu pretender, with Po Hini and Nj^a The Kyi, the
leaders of the Yaw rebellion, were fugitives in the Chin Hills, In
Shwebo, Katha, and Ye-u the remnants of the scattered gangs of
rebels had found refuge in the rugged country which adjoins the
Wuntho State and, when hotly pursued, fled into Wuntho itself.
This altered condition of things changed the character of the oper-
ations in the plains. Large columns of troops were no longer required
to scour the country and attack strong bands of rebels. The mili-
tary garrison was considerably reduced at the same lime that nu-
merous military posts, which were before necessary to overawe the
plain country, were withdrawn. The police posts had also been re-
duced. On the 1st April 1890 there were 173 military police posts
against 192 on the same date in the preceding year. The police force
thus set free was able to pursue the broken remnants of the different
gangs and make a vigorous effort to stamp them out completely.
The troops in Upper Burma had ceased to be on the footing of
a field force on the 1st April 1888 and the number of brigades was
reduced from four to three, composed as follows : —
First Brigade — Headquarters, Mandalay, including the Ava
and Sagaing commands.
Second Brigade — Headquarters, Myingyan, including the
Pakfikku, Pagan, and Minbu commands.
Third Brigade. — Headquarters, Meiktila, including the Ya-
mfethin and Pyinmana commands and the Northern and
Southern Shan States columns.
In addition to these three brigades there were the following sepa-
rate commands : —
Bhamo, with headquarters at Bhamo.
Ruby Mines, with headquarters at Bernardmyo.
Chindwin, with headquarters at Alon.
Shwebo, with headquarters at Shwebo.
The aggregate strength of this force was 13,250 men. It was un-
der the command of Sir George White, V.C., K.C.B. throughout the
year. The strength of the Upper Burma garrison at the close of
March 1889 was 11,335 "■^^"' ^^ ^.ll arms.
On the 1st April 1889 the entire force in both Upper and Lower
Burma was formed into the Burma District Command under Ma-
jor-General B. L. Gordon, C-B.^ R.A., and distributed as follows : —
Mandalay district — Headquarters, Mandalay.
Bhamo Command — Headquarters, Bhamo.
»74
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAi*. V.
Ruby Mines Command — Headquarters, Bernardmyo.
Shwebo Command — Headquarters, Shwebo.
Myinffvan district — Headquarters, Myingyan.
Chin Field Force— Northern Division.
Chin Field Force — Southern Division.
Chindwin Command — Headquarters, Alon.
The Meiktila Command was in the Rangoon district.
The constitution and organization of the military police force
j^ .. remained unchanged, but the strength was large-
II ary poice. |^ increased. At the end of 1887 the sanctioned
strength of all ranks was 17,515 and the actual strength 13,244.
At the end of 1888 the sanctioned strength was 19,177 and the
actual strength i 7,880. The increase in the responsibilities falling
on the force and in the area of the country brought under protec-
tion more than kept pace with the increase in strength. Five com-
panies were added to the Mogaung Levy, which hitherto had only
been strong enough to hold Mogaung itself and the communi-
cations with the Irrawaddy. Two levies, each of six companies,
were raised for the Chin frontier and for the Shan States. The Chin
frontier and the Yaw country had not up till then been held at all,
while the small garrison in the Shan States was pro\-ided by the
regular troops. As in the previous year, the force was distributed
in battalions, one for each district in Upper Burma, one for the
Kabaw Valley on the borders of Manipur, and one for the protection
of the railway under construction from Toungoo to Mandalay. The
number of officers was largely increased, so that there might be a
Second-in-Command for every battalionj with a lew Extra Assistant
Commandants in the more arduous districts. In every district a
moveable column was maintained and no new posts were permitted
without the sanction of the Chief Commissioner. The minimum
strength of a post was fixed at 40 rifles and the country patrols
never consisted of less than 10 men. Thus every party was able to
take effective action when opportunity offered. The conduct of
the military police was good. In action they behaved uniformly
well, and instances of special gallantry were as common as among
the regular troops. The force lost in 18S8-89 46 men killed in
action and 76 wounded. In the entire force only 84 men were
prosecuted on criminal charges, and some of these were cases of
negligently allowing prisoners to escape.
Fair progress was made in the raising of civil police, but their
regular organization was far from complete. They were recruited
almost entirely from Upper Burmans, who had been unaccustomed
to the discipline of a regular force, and the number of resignations,
desertions, and punishments was in some places startlingly large.
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
•
I
In 1889-90 therefore the pacification of Upper Burma was finally
completed and the last remnants of dacoit bands were disposed of.
In the Mandalay district special operations completely broke up
Kyaw Zaw's gang. Most of his followers surrendered and he
himself joined Saw Yan Naing on the northern frontier of the Shan
States, where a retreat into Chinese territory was always open.
Nga To, the dacoit leader who had escaped capture in previous
years, was taken by the police in the Sagaing district and District
Officers were at last able to visit all pans of their charge without
escorts.
In the Mogaung subdivision of Bhamo the attitude of the Kachins
_. was quite satisfactory. The road remained
secure and, but for the local quarrels among
the jade-mine and other traders themselves, there would have
been no serious crime. The establishment of a military police post
at Indawgyi, which was effected in May 1890, extended the area
under our direct control, and in the same month the country to
the west was explored for the first time and the Assistant Com-
missioners of Mogaung and Paungbyin met at Shwedwin on the
Uyu river. East of the Irrawaddy the so-called Mintha Buddha
Yaza, was caplurc^d by Bharao villagers and died in prison. Hkam
Leng caused some trouble. The village of Lwesaing was burnt
and other villagers were fined for having liarboured him and
thus most of the Upper Slnkan Kachins made submission. The
only local dacoit leader of importance, Nga Hlaw Gyaw, who
troubled the Shwegu subdivision early in the year, was killed by
villagers. In October 1889 a serious dacolty was committed in the
town of Bhamo llsdf, and for some months afterwards the country
to the south-east was disturbed by a gang of dacoits, which was
harboured by the Kachins and Palaungs of a village, Kyusaing, east
of Bhamo. The burning of Kyusalng In May iSgo put an end to
this, and other offending villages were fined. The efforts made to
re-open the Ambassador's route to China were not attended with
immediate success. The northern trade route, by way of the Ta-
ping river and Manaung, was not free from disturbance, and the Ka-
chins made several attacks on caravans, but trade continued never-
theless.
Katha remained open to raids by dacoit gangs from Wuntho and
J. Mong Mit, but special operations under Lieut-
enant Macnabb, Assistant Commissioner, were
completely successful in settling the troublesome subdivision of
Kawlin, where Nga Kyauk L6n, Nga Thaing, and Nga Aga had
remained at large. Nine leaders and over 200 of the rank and
file surrendered, or were killed or captured. The patience with
fjS
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V.
which the Sau^hua of Wuntho had been treated seemed at last to
have had a result. He established, in compliance with orders,
pohce posts on his borders ; he made some efiforts to arrest
criminals ; he met the Deputy Commissioner of Katha at Wuntho ;
and he sent his wife and son to Mandalay to pay a visit to the
Commissioner. But he failed to arrest Nga Hmat, who in Feb-
ruary attacked and burnt the village of I^ainggyi near the Wuntho
boraer, and Kainggyi had to be occupied by the military police,
who kept Nga Hmat inside Wuntho, to which State he belonged.
Two dacoilies were committed in the district from Mong Mit
also, but in both cases the dacoits were seized and convicted, and,
though there were no military or police posts along this frontier,
these were the only disturbances on the eastern side of Katha.
The district itself was thus completely brought into order. Wuntho
alone remained as a danger.
The Ruby Mines district was a good deal troubled by gangs of
robbers, which found a secure asylum in the
y '"«»■ waste tracts along its borders with Mong Mit
and Mong Long, louring the year a large tract of country,
formerly part of Mong Mit, was added to ihe Ruby Mines
district, with the result that there was for a lime an apparent
large increase in the number of violent crimes. Many of these,
however, were robberies on traders travelling on the main road
from Mog6k la Thabeltkyin, which runs close along the borders of
the district with Mong Long. The maintenance of patrols on the
road and the establishment of a military police post at Kin checked
these, which were rather gang robberies than dacoitics. Notwith-
standing this, there was a great increase in the trade of the district
and in the number of new settlers at Mogok.
Special operations in Shwebo were undertaken at the same time
as in Katha with entirely successful results.
Nga Kan Baw was driven west and captured
by the Kanni U'uti in the Lower Chindwin in February 1890. All
the members of his gang surrendered and he himself was tried
and sentenced to death. Nga I^yauk LAn was killed by one of
his own lieutenants in May 1890^ and almost all his band there-
upon surrendered. Nga Th6n, after suffering considerable loss,
was eventually compelled to surrender with his gang and was
sentenced to transportation in March 1890, and Nga Aga later
gave himself up in the Ye-u district. Since then dacoity has
entirely ceased in this turbulent district and the steady enforcement
of the track law has done much to reduce the number of cattle-
thefts and other minor offences, which always tended to increase
with the suppression of violent crime. Sagaing had been finally
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
'77
quieted in 1889 and in the succeeding year the number of offences
classed as violent crimes did not reach a score and were of an in-
significant character. Several noted leaders who had disappeared
in previous years were brought tojusiice, some of them having been
arrested in other districts.
Ye-u profited by the operations in Shwebo and Katha and the
last two leaders of note^ Van Gyi Aung and Nga Aga, surrendered
through the intermediation of the principal pongyt in the district.
All the rank and file of the dacoit gangs were permitted to live at
large on security and under surveillance and, though the number of
those who had formally surrendered was twelve hundred, the num-
ber of violent crimes was reduced to a merely nominal figure. In
the year 1889 the number of violent crimes was 1 16. In 1890 this
had been reduced to ten.
It was only in 1889 that steps were taken to extend effective
. control over the interior of the Upper Chindwin
district on the left bank of the Chindwin river.
The existence of dacoit gangs in the wide tract of country between
the Chindwin and the State of Wuntho and Ye-u was scarcely re-
cognized because the country was not really under our adminis-
tration. Nga Lfe and other leaders lived there unmolested until
now, when their bands were dispersed and they themselves found
safety in Wuntho.
In the Lower Chindwin also the townsfiip of Kanni, which com-
prised about two-thirds of the whole district, was still administered
by the IVnn of Kanni, who maintained order with a force of irregu-
lar police. The obligations of the IVun to administer the town-
ship in accordance with the principles of Government adopted in
other parts of the province were gradually made more strict, and the
Deputy Commissioner's supervision more effective, and eventually
the irregular force was replaced by regular police without disturbing
the peacefulness of the administration. Except for cattle-theft, the
district was always entirely free from crime and great progress was
made towards final disarmament.
It was not till June 1890, after seven or eight months of active
operations, that the country round P6ppa hill
was finally pacified. In that period nine
leaders, including the notorious Shwe Hm6k,
were killed ; eleven including Yan Bye were captured ; and forty-
three, among whom were HIa Gyaw, Nga Nwfe, and Yan Nyun, sur-
rendered. The surrender of Yan Nyun at the end of May may be
said to have completed the pacification of the district. He was an
official in Burmese times and commanded very great influence in
as
M V I n t; y a n
PakOkku.
and
178
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP, V.
Ma^we
mana.
and Pyin-
this part of the country, both on account of his rank and by his
relentless terrorism. His surrender, trial, and sentence put an end
to aU the gan^. Bo Cho was not captured and remained at large
for six years longer, but he entirely gave up dacoity and indeed
had no more than six men with him.
Pak6kku, notwithstanding its neighbourhood to the Chin Hills,
was undisturbed, and so was Minbu, where the special opera-
tions under Lieutenant Green were most successful. Saw U, son
of Bo Swe, was killed, and his brother, Saw Pa, was captured. The
only leaders of any name who remained at large were Tauk Ta and
Kyetkvi. and thev only escaped by discardinv their following, most
of whom surrendered and were allowed to return to their homes.
Yamfcthin, Meiktila, and Kyauksd were altogether free from distur-
bance, except for the raids of a few bad characters from the Shan
Hills, who seldom went beyond cattle-lifting and belonged to no or-
ganized gang.
The Magwe, Pyinmana, and Yamfethin police under the general
control of Mr. Porter, Deputy Commissioner of
Pyinmana, acted on a systematic plan against
the Yoma gangs and drove them from hiding-
place to hiding-place. In order to block the roads and prevent
the escape of the dacoits, temporary military police posts were
established in the immediate neighbourhood of the Yomas, four in
Magwe and six in Pyinmana- The posts already existing in the
Toungoo and Thayetmyo districts were strengthened and roads
and tracks connecting the Pyinmana and Magwe districts were
made. The policy of permitting the surrender of all but those who
had been guilty of specially atrocious crimes was consistently
pursued, and in three mnnth*? 79 dacoits, of whom i 7 were leaders
of more or less importance, had U-en killed, or captured, or had
surrendered. A large number of firearms had been seized, and
at the end of May the Yomas had been brought under complete
control. Meanwhile Mr. Todd-Naylor, the Deputy Commissioner
of Magwe, had been engaged in the north of the dislrict against
the dacoit leaders Shwe Daik and Tin Baw, and he and Mr. Collins,
Assistant Commissioner, succeeded in disposing of eight of their
gang of 16 and in driving the rest out of the district to places where
they had no influence. The result of these measures was that not
only was Magwe freed from disorder, but also all its neighbours.
The well-known leader, Lu Gale Gyi, was arrested as far away as
Prome and the organized action taken against dacoits was perha|
more conspicuously successful in Magwe than anywhere else in tin
same period of time.
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION,
179
During the year the six separate military commands were a-
bolishcd and the troops were distributed among the three districts
of Rangoon, Mandalay, and Myingyan. At the end of March r88g,
the whole force, including the Chin-Lushai Expeditionary Force,
numbered 15,608.
On the 1st January i8go the actual strength of the military
police was 18.618, and the Karen battalion, which had now grown
to four companies, did very good work, especially in the Minbu and
Magwe districts.
From 18S7 to 1889 the military posts in the interior of Upper
Burma had been gradually replaced bv military
Miliury police. ^^y^^^ ^^^^^^^ ^^^^^ beginning of 1887 there
were 142 posts held by troops and 56 held by military police;
at the end of thai year the numbers were 84 and 17^ respectively ;
and at the beginning of 18S9 the numbers were 41 posts held by
troops and 192 by military police. Towards the end of 1889, when
organized resistance to the Government had entirely collapsed, it
was found possible to reduce the number of military police posts
and 10 hold the posts still retained with smaller garrisons. A com-
mencement was made of the system of concentrating at least half
the strength ot each battalion at headquarters, and reductions were
made in several battalions. The Minbu, Pakokku, Pyinmana, Ya-
mfethin, and ICyaukst di-^tricts were all in such a satisfactory state
towards the end of 1889 that they were able to afford considerable
reductions in their battalions. It was decided to utilize the com-
panies made available by these reductions in the formation of a
strong and highly trained reserve. Another change in the organi-
zation of the military police was the amalgamation of two or more
battalions with the object of reducing the strength and cost of the
aggregate force. The first experiment was made in the Eastern
or Meiklila division. The Kyauksii, Meiktila, and YamMhin bat-
talions, which aggregated 19 companies, were formed into a single
joint battalion of 15 companies, and three of these companies were
added to the Reserve battalion, while the fourth was struck off the
the strength.
The number, conduct, and the permanency of the Upper Burma
Civil Police greatly improved during; this, practically, the second year
of their existence.
In i8go, which was the last year of Sir Charles Crosthwaite's
g administration of Burma, it may be said that
Final estahiishmeni order was finally established in Upper Burma
ol order. ^nd the construction of the administrative sys-
tem firmly set up. The Toungoo-Mandalay section of the railway
i8o
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V.
was opened to traffic and the passenger traflRc was immediately
very heavy. The Mu Valley railway was under construction. A
cart-road was made from the plains to the Southern Shan States
plateau, and another to the Northern Shan States, while a carl -road
from Thabeikkyin on the Irrawaddy to the Ruby Mines was sUso
opened. The irrigation system, which had fallen into great disre-
pair in King Thlbaw's time, was carefully examined with a view to
the repair of old works and the construction of new channels on a
definite plan.
The only tract in the Irrawaddy Valley which caused anxiety
-,, . . ,„ was the State of Wuniho. It was classed as a
Wuntho rebellion. o i_ c . i_ . . ■ ^i.
bhan State, but was never at any time on the
same footing as the true Shan States and only escap*;d becoming
an integral part of the Burmese Empire, like the neighbouring dis-
tricts, through Burmese want of system. It had an area of about
2,400 square miles with 150,000 inhabitants, and lay midwav be-
tween the Irrawaddy and Chindwin livers. The Sazvbwa, Maung
Aung Myat, had succeeded his father as Chief in 1881, when the
old man of his own accord gave up the direct administration. The
ex'Sawinta lived in the north of the Stale and was consistently ill-
disposed to British authority. His son maintained an exasperating
attitude of reserve and distrust and, while promising 10 arrest da-
coits and maintain order within and on the borders of his territory,
virtually allowed it to become a standing refuge for rebels and
dacoit leaders. The steady advance of the railway and the fact
that a census had been ordered, doubtless brought matters to a
crisis, and, though the rising came as a rude surprise, it was no
doubt well-planned, probably in correspondence with Manipur. In
January 1891 a small column left Kaiha to account for Nga Mmat
and Po Thein, two dacoits who had been giving trouble. Nga Hmat
surrendered with 40 followers ; but to get at Po Thein it was ne-
cessary to go through the northern portion of Wuniho, which was
directly ruled by the old Sawbtva. The road to Po Thein's retreat
at Mangyaung was blocked. Mounted orderlies were shot at and
Banmauk fired into, and on the 15th February an attack was made
on that post and, after some hours' resistance, the District Super-
intendent of Police and his party were forced to retire to Kainggyi.
On the morning of the next day, at 3 A.M., the rebels on the
south of the State broke into the military police stockade of Kaw-
lin and set fire to various buildings to the north and west. Three
of the military police and the compounder were killed immediate-
ly, but. by the light of the blazing buildings of the Subdivisional
headquarters, the Subadar drove the enemy out of the stockade.
At the same time the police post of Kyaukpintha was attacked
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFtCATION.
l8t
and both places were beleaguered for several days, while a number
of frontier villages were burnt and looted. The railway buildings
at Kyungon to th(j south were burnt, the civil police station at
Sing6n lo the enst was destroyed, and a similar post at Okkan,
towards Ye-u on the west, was also seized and burni. The sud-
denness of the rising showed that it was concerted, and for a time
it appeared as if the reinforcements hurried from all sides would
not be in time. On the i9ih February, however. Lieutenant Nis-
bei, with loo of the 20th Madras Native Infantry from Kaiha, and
Captain H. D'U. Keary, with Subadar Prakasa Roya and 39 sow-
ars from Shwebo, arrived at Kawlin and at once turned the defence
into an attack. Captain Keary charged the centre of the rebels
and cleared them from the plain and drove the remnant of them up
a stockaded hill. This hill, with his dismounted sowars and the
Madras Infantry, he proceeded to attack from different sides.
Both parties failed at the first attempt, but just at nightfall the
dismounted sowars, under Prakasa Roya, after a severe hand-to-
hand fight, carried the position and killed every man in it. Three
sepoys were killed and six wounded in the attack on this position,
which was inside a pagoda, flanked at the corners by rifle-pits and
situated on the top of a very steep rocky hill, covered with thick
undergrowth, except round the pagoda. On the following day Cap-
tain Keary and Mr Kenny with the mounted men cleared the sur-
rounding country of the enemy, destroying Pegfin, the rallying point
Jorthe rebels on the borders of Wiintho. On the aist the troops
^ved from Shwebo and a detachment of the Duke of Cornwall's
Ijght Infantry under Captain Custance from Tigyaing. That tvt-
"Jng news came that the Sawbwa had stockaded himself at the
Kyaingkwintaunt; on the road to Wuntho town. This the troops
and military police under command of Captain T. A. H. Davies of the
Devonshire Regiment proceeded to attack on the 22nd February.
The stockade was in a kyauug in a strong position on a hill com-
manding the ford of the Daung-yu river, about half-way between
Kawlin and Wuntho, which are some 9 miles apart. The Devon-
shires crossed the river under the fire of the enemy at about 200
vards range and attacked the hill from the south, while the mounted
infantry under Captains Kear^* and Custance moved along the east
bank to cut off the retreat. The position was carried by assault
after an hour's fighting and the troopers cut off the enemy's retreat,
killed 50, and wounded a large number, notwithstanding that the
ground was full of irons- de-loup, dug as traps for them. The Saw
Jtra'j pony was taken in the stockade. Our loss was three men of
the Devonshires killed and 10 wounded and five sepoys wounded.
On the same day the military police from Ye-u came upon the
enemy strongly stockaded at the Monan kyaung near Okkan.
i&a
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. V.
After an engagement lasting several hours, the rebels were dislodg-
ed and driven off with a loss of 27 killed. Captain Hutchinson,
the Commandant of the: Ye-u battalion, received a severe wound,
of which he died a few days afterwards, and one sepoy was killed
and seven wounded.
These two actions practically crushed the rebellion. The rebels
lost their best men, mostly pure Shans, in the engagements at and
round Kawlin, and were thoroughly beaten and cowed and this in
about a week from the beginning of the outbreak. The result was
the somewhat unique feature that the expedition was completely
successful before the expeditionary force had been regularly orga-
nized. VVuntho town was occupied witliout opposition on the 24th
February. General Wolseley, C.B.. Commanding the Mandalay dis-
trict, had been appointed to the chief military and political charge
of the operations and arrived in the town on the 26th February.
An advance was then made across the hills to Pinltbu, the Sotv-
bwd's place of residence, 33 miles off. Their final position on the
Mankin pass was turned on the 25th February and the stockaded
village of Mankin was then shelled and the enemy fled and all arm-
ed resistance in Southern Wuntho came to an end.
The Sawdn'a wrote offering to pay any reasonable fine the Gen-
eral might impose, and informing him that he had forbidden his
people to offer any further resistance to our troops, but was told
that until he surrendered in person no terms could be offered beyond
the promise of his personal safety and the protection of his family
and private property. The mounted force was sent northwards to
cut off his retreat in that direction, but in the meantime the military
police from Ye-u had pushed on from Okkan and the Satvbwa in-
conuncnily took to flight on the 27th Februarv, leaving his palace
and stockade burnt behind him. Captain Hodges and Captain
Proud occupied the very strongly situated position at Pinl^bu the
same afternoon, and General Wolseley found him in possession
when he arrived on the morning of the ist March. No trustworthy
information was available as to the Saivbwa's line of retreat, but in
any case want of transport and rations prevented an immediate pur-
suit.
While these events were taking place in the south a column had
also been organized in the north under Colonel Macgregor, D.S.O.,
of the 1st Burma Regiment (loth Madras Infantry), with Mr.
Martini, District Superintendent of Police, as Political Assistant.
They marched from Katha against the old Saiobwa at Mansi,
Before it advanced the military police of Katha at Ivainggyi and
elsewhere had had several encounters uith the rebels, who had bro-
ken into tlie district in various places, plundering and burning vil-
CHAP, v.]
FINAL PACIFICATION.
iSl
and both places were beleaguered for several days, while a number
of frontier villages were burnt and looted. The railway buildings
at Kyungon to the south were burnt, the civil police station at
Singon to the east was destroyed, and a similar post at Okkan,
towards Ye-u on the west, was also seized and burnt. The sud-
denness of the rising showed that it was concerted, and for a time
it appeared as if the reinforcements hurried from all sides would
not be in time. On the 19th February, however, Lifutenant Nis-
bet, with 100 of the 20th Madras Native Infantry from Kaiha, and
Captain H. D'U. Keary, with Subadar Prakasa Roya and 29 sow-
ars from Shwebo, arrived at Kawlin and at once turned the defence
into an attack. Captain Keary charged the centre of the rebels
and cleared them from the plain and drove the remnant of them up
a stockaded hill. This hill, with his dismounted sowars and the
Madras Infantry, he proceeded to attack from different sides.
Both parties failed at the first attempt, but just at nightfall the
dismounted sowars, under Prakasa Roya, after a severe hand-to-
hand fight, carried the position and killed every man in it. Three
sepoys were killed and six wounded in the attack on this position,
which was inside a pagoda, flanked at the corners by rifle-pits and
situated on the top of a very steep rocky hill, covered with thick
undergrowth, except round the pagoda. On the following day Cap-
tain Keary and Mr- Kenny with the mounted men cleared the sur-
rounding country of the enemy, destroying f^egon, the rallying point
for the rebels on the borders of Wuntho. On the 21 si the troops
arrived from Shwebo and a detachment of the Duke of Cornwall's
Light Infantry under Captain Custance from Tigyain^. That eve-
ning news came that the Satvbwa had stockaded himself at the
Kyaingkwintaun^ on the road to Wuntho town. This the troops
and military police under command of Captain T. A. H. Davies of the
Devonshire Regiment proceeded to attack on the 22nd February.
The stockade was in a kyautig in a strong position on a hil! com-
manding the ford of the Daung-yu river, about half-way between
Kawlin and Wuntho, which arc some 9 miles apart. The Devon-
shires crossed the river under the fire of the enemy at about 200
yards range and attacked the hill from the south, while the mounted
mfantry under Captains Keary and Custance moved along the east
bank to cut off the retreat. The position was carried by assault
after an hour's fighting and the troopers cut off the enemy's retreat,
killed 50, and wounded a large number, notwithstanding that the
ground was full of trous-de'loup, dug as traps for them. The Saw'
hva's pony was taken in the stockade. Our loss was three men of
the Devonshires killed and 10 wounded and five sepoys wounded.
On the same day the military police from Ye-u came upon the
enemy strongly stockaded at the Monan kyaung near Okkan.
r84
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. V.
The Jade Mines were reached on the 15th .April ; but there was
no o{>po«ition, and the people welcomed the force, it was deto--
mined to establish a post there, and Captain CVDonn^ was left in
command with four other British Officers, 132 n6es of the Mo-
gun^ Levy, and a section of the 6th Bombay Mount^n Battery.
The Wuntho Sav6va it was found had succeeded in escaping by
the northern road through the amber mines inio China. With the
establishment of the Jade mines post the military operations may
be said to have closed.
A few days after the beginning of the rebellion, and as soon as
it became clear that the Savb-xa himself was really engaged in ii,
the orders of ihe Government of India were obtamcd for his de-
position, and a proclamation was issued declaring that he wotild
never be given authority in Wuntho again, and tendering pardon to
all who should make their submission and surrender their arms in a
fortnight. There was no hesitation in accepting these terms, and
from the verj' first the people readily came in with their arms. Al-
though the rebels had burned hundreds of houses, carried off hund-
reds of cattle, and destroyed an immense amount of property be-
longing to unoffending people, no retaliatory measures whatever
were taken, and, excepting the burning of a few houses at first,
where there was resistance, no damage of any kind was done. The
consequence of this policy was that the country quietly settled down
and the people were both friendly and helpful to our officers and
troops. About 3,000 arms were given in, practically all there were,
except those in the hands of the Immediate followers of the Sazo^
b-wa. The members of the Sawhwa's family, including his cousin,
the Kemmong, or heir apparent, and numerous prominent officials
were pardoned and allowed to remain in Wuntho, and the best of
the old local officials were given employment in the new adminis-
tration of the territory, which was incorporated in the neighbouring
districts of Katha and Ye-u.
No sooner was Kawlin relieved than arrangements were made to
)nd a staff of Engineers into Wuntho and Katha to make roads
and build posts, to extend the telegraph and establish postal com-
munications, and much was accomplished before the end of the
open season. At the same time work on the railway was pushed
on both from Wuntho to the pass into Katha and from Katha to
the same pass. Wuntho has enjoyed perfect peace ever since the
sudden revolt of the Sambma.
Nga Lfe and the ^iy^-Sawhwa of Wuntho made their appearance
in the following year, i8gi, and committed a number of dacoities
in the Legayaing subdivision of the Upper Chindwin. Nga Lfe,
however, was shot and the ey.-Sa7vb-afa was driven off. He appears
CHAP, v.]
PINAL PACIFICATION.
i8S
since to have attached himself to the small band of the disaffected
and robber chiefs who find a refuge with Saw Yan Naing in the
Chinese States. Some of the Wuntho nest of dacoits, notably
Nga Hmat, Kya Yit, and Kya Zi, disturbed Katha district for a
time, but all the members of their gangs were accounted for in
1894. Tauk Ta, who was still at large in the Minbu district in
1893 with a band of 27 men with 10 guns, was captured with all
his men in that year. The last of all the dacoit leaders to be taken
was Nga Cho. After remaining concealed for several years, he
suddenly re-appeared in the P6ppa hill neighbourhood with a small
but troublesome^ f?''^"g ^^^ g^^'^ ^^ much trouble in the Mylngyan
district that special measures were taken for his capture. He was
captured with the principal members of his gang and brought to
justice in 1896, the last of the hundreds who had troubled the upper
province.
But already in 1890 the progress towards the complete estab-
Conversion of the hshment of order was SO great that considerable
military piiice inio reduction was Dossible in the strength of the mili-
regiments. ^^^y police. This was effected by the transfer
of frontier levies to the regular army in pursuance of a scheme for
garrisoning the Southern Shan States and the Chin Hills by troops
instead of police. In this way, with the Mogaung levy, the first three
Burma regiments were formed, taking the place of disbanded Madras
Native Infantry regiments. At the close of 1891 the six battalions
employed in the Mytiigyan, Pak6kku, Minbu, Magwe, Lower
Chmdwin, and Sagalng districts were amalgamated into three.
The reduction thereby effected of ten and a half companies enabled
the 4th Burma Regiment to be formed. There was then a pause
for a year owing to the necessity for increasing the force m the
Ruby Mines district, which then included Mong Mit for police pur-
poses, and in the Bhamo, Katha, and Upper Chindwin districts,
where much previously unexplored country was brought under con-
trol. In 1892, however, 16 companies were transferred to the
Native Army and formed the nucleus of the 5th and 6th Burma Re-
giments, and in the beginning of 1893 ^ further reduction of eight
companies resulted in the formation of the 7th Burma Regiment.
In 1894 the Mandalay battalion of seven companies was abolished
and a reduction of one company in the Southern Division battalion
and of two rompanies in the Katha battalion was effected. The
Yam^thin battalion was increased by two companies and the North-
ern Chin Hills battalion of six companies was formed, which set
free one of the regiments employed there for service elsewhere, In
this way the strength of the Upper Burma military police was
reduced to 12,091. The cost of the military police, which in 1889
H
l86
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. V.
had been Rs. 67.74,810 was in 1895 reduced to Rs. 32,10,905.
Latterly the military police force in Lower Burma, in consequence
of additional calls, has been increased at the expense of reductions
in Upper Burma.
At the same time the civil police have been decreased in numbers,
while they have increased in efficiency. This is largely due to the
institution of training schools and of beat-patrols, while the estab-
lishment of I o-house^rtMrt^j, according to the old Burmese system,
greatly improved the cRiciency of the rural police. Under this
system a village is divided into a number of blocks, each of which
is under a lo-house gaung. All the iD-house^i7tt«^^ in their turn
are suburdinale to the vlllai;e headman The system was familiar
to the people and is in itself a good on'*. Its adoption has done
?nuch to render easier the detection of crime. In the Pakokku
district a number of Chins have been enlisted in the police with
most satisfactory results. The recruiting of Kachins in the Bharao
and Myitkyina districts has aUo been begun, but their efBciency is
a matter on which their officers so far are not in agreement. A
company of Kachin military police, however, behaved very credit-
ably under fire on the occasion of the taking of some Chinese
stockades in the Kachin Hills In April 1898.
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
187
CHAPTER VI.
THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
It seems probable that the Tai, or Shan, race will furnish in the
„. ^ , unravelment of its histon' an explanalion, or,
The Tal race. . . . , , ' . ' . '
at any rate, a clue to many obscure points in
the history not only of Indo-China but of the Chinese Empire it-
self. The Tai race, in its different branches, is beyond all ques-
tion the most widely spread oi any in the Indo-Chinese Peninsula
and even in parts beyond the peninsula, and it is certainly the most
numerous, It is quite certain that Tai are found from Assam to
far into the Chinese province of Kwang-si and Irom Bangkok
to the interior of Yunnan, it seems possible that they may be
traced even farther. Monsieur Bons d'Anty, the Consul for France
in Canton, who had many opporiunities of studying the race not
merely in Ssu-mao, but previously in Lung-Chao, Nan-ning, and
Wu-chao, found not only that Shan was practically the language
of the country from Lung-chao to Pe-se, the limit of navigation on
the West river (Hsi Kiang), but is inclined to think that the Hak-
kas of south China, if not Tai, have a very strong infusion of Tai
blood. This is prima facie extremely probable, though it does not
yet admit of direct proof, but beyond this Monsieur Bons d'Anty
believes that the Li, the inhabitants of the interior of Hainan, are
pure Tai. Very little is known about them, and the question is loo
controversial to be treated in a gazetteer, but it may be mentioned
that both men and women wear their hair knotted like the Shans,
that the Shang Li or wild Li women have their faces tattooed when
they marry, and that there is a Li written character, which has not
yet been critically examined, but is characterized by a Chinese
writer as being "like the wriggling of worms,'* a picturesque de-
scription which might be applied to the Shan alphabet. It may be
added that the coast belt of Hainan is inhabited chiefly by Hakkas.
The difference of name proves nothing either way, for the branch-
es which are indisputably Tai are known by a bewildering variety
of names, which serve to conceal their identity, such as Tai, Htai,
Pai-i, Moi, Muong, Tho or Do, Hkamti, with a very much greater
number of local names, assumed by themselves or given them by
their neighbours, such as Lao, Law, Hkiin, Lii. Tal-long, Tai-noi,
Tai-mao, Tai-nO, Tai-man, Tai-hk^, Tal-loi, Pu-tai, Pu-nong (or
Wung), Pu-man, Pu-jii, Pu-chei, Pu-en, Pu-yiei, Pu-shui, p'o* Pa,
1 88
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
Shui Han, or Hua Pai-i, Pai-jfrn. T'u-jen. P'u-man. Pal, Hei or
Hwa T'u-lao, Nung or Lung-jen, Sha-jen, Hel or Pai Sha-jdn, Min-
chia, Shui-chia, Chung-chia. and many more still more purely local.
As if this were not enoujjh, they have six di^tlnct forms of written
character — the Siamese, ihe Lao or Siamese Shan, ihe Lii, and H kun
which might be called frans-Salween Shan, the Cis-Salween Shan
which with the Hkun might be called British Shan, the Tai Mao
which is Chinese Shan, and the Hkamti Shan of the settlements
west of the Irrawaddy.
The spoken languages are to a great extent mutually incompre-
hensible; the written characters are no less of a reciprocal puzzle,
most exasperating of all, the tones of the various dialects do not
correspond. Yet to a student in the Rriiish Museum there is not a
doubt as to the common origin and in many cases the identity of
the various forms. Siamese gentlemen have found that with pa-
tience they can understand their farthest relatives, the Hkamti
Shans, but they cannot carry on a conversation with their nearest
neighbours, the Lao, and the written character of Slam and of the
Hkamti Shans is the most divergent of any. It might naturally
be supposed that Siam, which is the only Independent Tai State in
existence, and is and has boon for long the most civilized and ad-
vanced, would supply us with the best history of the race, but it is
precisely Siam which furnishes no information whatever on the
subject. Bishop Pallegoix places the commencement of the Shan
Kingdom of Siam in .\.D. 1350, and previous to this date no infor-
mation whatever exists, except strange hyperbolical stories and
fabulous tales, which have not even the merit of corresponding with
those of their northern brethren.
As if the multitude of Shan tribe names and State names were
not bewildering and kaleidoscopic enough, some strange fatality
created two phantasms which attracted the attention of enquirers
to the exclusion and obscuring of less elusive facts in Shan history.
These were the * Kingdom of Pong ' and the Ko-shan-pyi, the nine
Shan States. The ' Kingdom of Pong' appears in the translation
of a Shan chronicle (the manuscript is now lost) obtained in Mani-
pur by Captain Pemberton in 1895. The same kingdom is men-
tioned in the list of his conquests by Anawra-hta, King of Pagan.
The name, however, is unknown to the Shans and much ingenuity
has been wasted in trying to identify it. Sir Arthur Phayre said
it was Mogaung. The late Mr. Ney Ellas was convinced that it
was Mong Mao. Mr. E. H. Parker, by dint of Chinese learning,
proves it to be Luh-ch'wan. Since, however, he admits that this
IS a purely Chinese title, that the State no longer exists, and that its
limits were not clearly defined when it did exist, the solution Is the
CHAP. VI.
THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
189
less gratifying. The frivolous might say that the Kingdom of
P6ng was ^^^s. Harris. Since the origin of the name SJtati for the
Tai race itself is a puzzle, the Kingdom of Pong may be put on
the shelf beside it, till we have fuller information. AH that is pos-
sible is to prove that there was an ancient Shan Kingdom, but
there is nothing to show that it was called the Kingdom of Pong
or that that name was ever known to the Tai race.
The term Ko-shan-pyi or nine Shan States is more easily ex-
plained. The various Shan chronicles which so far have been con-
sulted, while they give their own local name as that of the para-
mount kingdom, unite in adding the classical or Buddhistical
name of Kawsampi. This may very probably have been borrowed
from Kaw-sambi, one of the most celebrated cities of ancient India,
but the Burman official, with the ear of a hippopotamus and the
arrogance of a self-made man, could not bring himself to admit
that a Shan Kingdom had any right to a classical title, if indeed he
knew that Kawsampi was classical. He therefore transformed
Kawsampi into Ko-shan-pyi. It is possible that it may have
been assumed that there were at some time nine co-existent
Shan States, but the fact seems as doubtful as it is certain that
the seven Kingdoms of the Saxon Heptarchy never flourished at the
same time. Such Shan chronicles as are known do not support any
assertion of the kind, and the Burmese, so far from giving any list,
had a very clear conviction that at whatever period they had deal-
ings with the Shans, there were always very many more than nine
Shan States. They therefore amused themselves with fancy
variants, such as the Ko Maing, Ko Kyaing, the " nine Mongs, and
" the nine Kengs or Chiengs,"or the" ninety-nine Shan Sawbwas"
whom sundry rulers claim to have defeated in expeditions to the
hills, or from whom they profess to have received tribute on
homage days.
The name and the implied fact of the Ko-shan-pyi was intro-
duced to Western readers by Buchanan-Hamilton m the Edin-
burgh Philosophical Journal, X, 246, and as a result Ritter,
Bumey, Hannay, and many others have given conflicting lists which
strove to fix these nine Shan States.
The late Mr. Ney Elias detected the confusion and says : " Ku-
" sambi is merely the classical or adopted name for Mung Mau,
" which was, it so happens, at some period composed of nine
" Maings or provinces, though usually of ten. It has been mis-
" construed into a Burmese combination of Ko-shan-pri and inter-
" preted to mean nine Shan States." Instead of recognizing that
the term was merely a fancy and not a fact, Mr. Elias, howeveri
THE UPPER BURMA GAZKTTEKR, [CHAP. VI.
unfortunatdy persisted in endeavouring to identify nine of the small
Slates, usually known as the Chinese Shan Slates, as the Ko-shan-
pyi. It is much simpler to recognize that Ko-shaii-pyj is Kavv-
sampi and is the Shan name for the dominant Slate, which the
Manipuris called the Kingdom of Pong and the Chinese, as the
painstaking researches o( Mr. E. H. Parker prove, the Kingdom of
Ai-Iao or Nanchao.
It is most unfortunate that few Shan histories have survived the
civil wars and that the texts so far recovered and translated are
very corrupt and ascribe to each particular modem State llie pre-
dominance over the others in the past, that is to say, they all claim
lo be KawsampI or tlie Kingdom of P6ng. Moreover, none of the
texts are really old, and appear to have been drawn up from memory
or tradition in almost evi ry case. The confusion of dates caused
by an imperfect knowledge among the later writer^ of the ancient
Tai system of counting by cycles, explained below, also makes
comparison very difficult.
Until comparatively recently our knowledge of the Shans was de-
rived entirely from Burmese history, or from the information con-
densed from the journals ol Dr. Richardson and Captain Macleod,
by Colonel Yule in the thirteenth chapter of his Narrative of the
Mission to the Court of Avain 1855. The Burmese history was con-
fused, fragmentary, and biassed; the details of the explorers are
very valuable in giving us details of intermediate history, but hardly
help us to determine when the dispersion and segregation of the
Shan race began and what their position was before these events
look place.
The late Mr. Ney Elias made a commencement of getting Shan
history from the Shans. He had a number of Shan chronicles trans-
lated for him and had them compared with Burmese translations
of Shan books and combined the information in his Introductory
Sketch of the History of the Shafts, published in Calcutta in 1S76-
The result is very valuable, but it seems to unduly exalt the Shans
of MongMao. The whole of the Nam Mao or Shweli valley has ob-
viously been cultivated and highly populated for a very long time,
but it remains to be proved that the term Mao Shans is a political
rather than a racial term. The same criticism may be applied to the
chronicle of Hsen Wi, now first translated and given below. To this
have been added details from other chronicles, which seem to amend
or elucidate it- It may, however, be said of these chronicles, as Colo-
nel Yule said of the fiistory of Burma, that " the desire to carry
*' back to a remoter epoch the existence of the Empire as a great
"monarchy has led to the representation of what was really the
CHAP. VI.] THE SMAN STATES AND THE TAI.
191
" history of various petty principalities, attaining probably an alter-
" nate preponderance of dominion, as the history of one dynasty of
" monarchs in various successive seats."
The chronicles are local, but there is sufficient correspondence in
their details to point to a common Shan history. They are, how-
ever, too fragmentary as yet to warrant more than corrections of
existing information.
On such existing history Mr. Parker's translations from Chinese
annals throw much lighi. He is a little too intolerant of confusion
of date and fact, arising from the intermingling of the Shan cycle
system and the ordinary Buddhist era, but the piecing together of
various confirmatory items of information give us for the present a
better idea of the history of the Shans, and, with the discovery of
new chronicles, will enable an orderly history to be written. There
is not enough material to furnish this yet, but there is enough to
show that "during the ninth century of our era Burma, whatever
" i\R size may have been, was at least, so far as its northern portion
" was concerned, inferior in power to the Shan Kingdom of Tali-fu,
" which at one time came very near overthrowing the Chinese T'ang
" dynasty " and that " the first Emperor of the Sung dynasty in the
" middle of the tenth century drew a line beyond which he w^s de-
" termined to have no political concern, and the Nanchao State, now
'* first called the Kingdom of Ta-li, was quite independent up to the
"time of the Mongol inroad under Prince Kublai, afterwards
" Kublai Khan."
The Reverend J. N. Cushing, D.D., is the only real authority on
the Shans. 1 le furnished a monograph on their history and ethno-
graphy for Mr. H. L. Ealcs's Report on the Census of Burma, 1892.
From this what follows is collated and adapted as an introduction
to the fragmentary historical details derived from the Shan chro-
nicles.
South-western China was the original home of the Tai people, or
rather was the region where they attained to a marked separate de-
velopment as a people. There are many indications that they had
anciently a close connection with the Chinese before setthng in
Sz-ch*wan and the country south of the Yang-tzu river. Dim tra-
ditions of such a connection still exist among them. One of the most
striking discoveries of modern research, due in great part to the
late M- Terrien de Lacouperie, is the comparative youth of the
Chinese as a great homogeneous and powerful people. Immense
regions inside China proper were non-Chinese, and the Sons of
Heaven had no more power than was necessary to keep a check
upon these internal and inveterate foes, always ready to break the
tga
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. Vf.
net which from time to time was spread over them. It was not
before the first quarter of the third century B.C. that the Chinese
political power permitted it to cross the 'Yangtzu-kiang, which
nearly separates the country Into two halves, north and south. .And
as a i'act Chinese authority was so far from bcin^ established that
about 566 AD. the Emperor Wu-ti of the Northern Chao dynasty
was obliged to protect the passages of the Yang-izu, west of 1-chang,
with ramparts in order to prevent the raids of barbarians. In the
latter part of the fifth century of our era, the chief of the Pan-hu
race was recognized by the Chinese Emperor as King of Siang-
yang (llupeh) and Governor of King Chao. His realm contain-
mg 80,000 villages, covered the provinces of Central Ciiina and ex-
tended north to near the Yellow river. In the IweUlh century they
still occupied the eastern half of Sz-ch'wan and Kuei-chao, Hupeh,
and Munan provinces Knowledge of this is necessary to under-
stand the formation and evolution of the Chinese nation. There is
a broad distinction to be drawn between the extension of the
Chinese dominion politically so called and that of their influence.
The indigenous Chiefs were recognized as Chinese ofiioials by the
addition of Chinese titles of office to their own native dignity. Such
native States entirely enclosed in Chinese territory lasted for many
centuries and the broken tribes srill in existence in the southern
provinces of China are fragments of their population. " Segmen-
" tation, intermingling, and transfer from one place to another have
" happened on so extensive a scale that hybridity Is much more to
" be met with than purity in any degree^ yet of those who migrated
" southwards, and were progressively driven outside the modern
"Chinese frontiers, there are in Indo-China not a few remnant
" tribes, or reconstituted nations, representative, in a decayed or in
" an improved state of culture, of former communities, or important
" races and States which once were located in Central and Southern
" China." A study of all the documents available led Monsieur
Terrien to the definite pronouncement that " the cradle of the Shan
" race was in the Kiu'lung mountains north of Sz-ch'wan and south
" of Shensi in China proper." Whe'her this is final may be doubted,
but at any rate there can be little doubt that the Tai race, whether
they are pure Ngu, Pa, Lao, or Ngai-lao (the Ailao of Mr. Parker),
or an inextricable imbroglio of hybrid communities, formed the domi-
nating power in Yunnan for many centuries. Mr. Parker's re-
searches given below prove this conclusively.
Burman historj- tells us of two great military expeditions from
Yunnan into Burma by Taydks ; one not long before the Christian
era and the other about A.D. 241. These Tay6k3 could not have
been the Chinese^ for the Chinese were shut off from contact with
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
ig;
the Burmese until after the conquest of Yunnan by Kublai Khan in
A.O. 1253, when he put an end to the Nan-chao Kingdom. It
seems clear that these Tayoks must have been the Shans prior to
their dispersal, and their kingdom Ai-lao or Nan-chao may oe pre-
sumed to be the Kingdom o7p6ng and the Kawsampi of latter-day
histories. This may also explain why the Hurmcse speak of the
Mongol armies as consisting of two races, the Tar6ks (or Tayoks)
and the Tarets. Sir Arthur Phayre says the Manchus are called
Taret by the Burmese, but Mr. Parker doubts the fact and demands
his authority. The fact that Taruk and Taret mean " six and seven "
in Manipuri is without doubt very extraordinary and suggests that
the enquiry is at sixes and sevens, but it in no other way affords a
solution. It may be permitted tosuggest that the Teru State, of
which M.Terrien writes, seems to supply a clue. It developed about
the eleventh century B C, " grew progressively to an enormous ex-
" tent, equal to, if not more important than, all the other States of the
" Chinese confederation put together," but the Teru or Tero were
eventually expelled from China in 77S A.D. by the King of Nan-
chau when he destroyed the western part of the Tsuan State in
North Kwangsj. M. Terrien detects in them the antecedents of
the Karen tribes. Dr. Gushing urges convincingly that the great
homogeneity of the different divisions of the Tai race can be ac-
counted for only by the existence of one or more strong Tai States
in South-western China for a considerable time before the first
historical notice of Nan-chao early in the seventh century. Mr.
Parker indicates that there was this powerful Slate in the earlier
kingdom of Ai-lao, and everything down to the existence at the
present day of the Pai-i, the Min-ch'iang, and other tribes of un-
doubted Tai race in the south and west of Yunnan, stranded on the
borders of the ancient home of their race, combine to prove the same
thing.
Monsieur Terrien is an additional witness when he \\Tites of
the Ngai-lao . " They appear again in A. D. 47, making raids on the
" Chinese territory, descending the Han and Yangtsz rivers on
" bamboo rafis. In the year 69 Liu Mao, their General-King, sub-
"mittedtothe empire with seventy seven chiefs of communities
'* and 51,890 families, comprising 553,71 1 persons. As they had
*' extended over the whole western part of Sz-ch'wan and somh-
" wardsj they were officially recognized by the Chinese Government
"in the east of Yunnan. In A, D. 78, having rebelled against the
" Chinese officials appointed to represent the suzerainty of China,
" their king, Lei-Iao, was defeated in a great battle, which caused
" many of their tribes to migrate into the present country of the
" Northern Shan Slates. They soon recovered from this blow
35
^94
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. Vl.
" and they developed and formed the agglomerations which became
" in A. D. 629 the great State of Nan-chao, which afterwards ex-
" tended in all directions." There Is throughout a suggestion of
the fatal want of coherence which appears always to have charac-
terized the Tai, but the evidence seems complete of a united and
powerful State which lasted long enough and had traditions glorious
enough to impress its paternity upon its most distant descendants,
no matter how widely separated and how greatly influenced by alien
races and diverse political connections.
Dr. Gushing says the migrations of the Tai into Burma probably
began about two thousand years ago, although Shan and Burman
tradition place the irruption several centuries earlier. What we
can gather from Chinese history would seem to point to the same
date. Probably the first swarms were small and were due rather to
the restlessness of character, which has always characterized the
Tai, than to exterior force. Some of the migrations may have been
warlike expeditions, such as that which destroyed the ancient
Tagaung Empire. The inference is irresistible that the invaders
were not Chinese but Tai or Tero Shans or Karens^ and almost
certainly not the latter.
Later, however, larger and more important migrations were un-
doubtedly due to the pressure of Chinese invasion and conquest.
Most Northern Shan Chronicles begin with the legend that in
the middle of the sixth century of our era two brothers descended
from heaven and took up their abode in Hsen \Vi, or in the valley
of the Shweli, or of the Irrawaddy, or wherever local pride requires
the settlement. There they found a population which immediately
accepts them as kings. This is probably the folks-myth fashion
of stating a historical fact. A great wave of Tai migration de-
scended in the sixth century of the Christian era from the mountains
of Southern Yunnan into the Nam Mao or Shweli valley and the
adjacent regions, and through it that valley became the centre of
Shan political power. Tradition and the statement of all the
hitherto discovered chronicles assert that the Nam Mao or Shweli
valley and its neighbourhood, Bhamo, Mong Mil, Hsen Wi, is
the first home of the Shans In Upper Burma, It seems most
probable that this wave of migration followed the path already
traversed by earlier Tai colonists, who had sought a home in these
parts, but had attained no political importance. From the Nam Mao
the Shans spread south-east over the present Shan Stales, north
into the present Hkamti region, and west of the Irrawaddy river into
all the country lying between it, the Chiiidwin, and Assam. Centu-
ries later they overran and conquered Wesali-LOng, Assam itself.
Chap, vi.] the shan states and the tai.
J95
Not only does tradition assert that these Shans of Upper Burma are
ihe oldest branch of the Tai family, but they are always spoken of by
other branches as the Tai L&ttg^ or Great Shans, while the other
branches call themselves Tai Noi, or Little Shans. The name Tai
Mao referring to the Shweli river is also freauently used, Even the
Siamese use the term, though they misapply it. They call them-
selves Hlai Noi or Little Htai, and the Lao Shans, from whom they
say they are sprung, they call Htai Yai, the Great Htai. But the
Lao in their turn call themselves Tai Noi and acknowledge the
Northern Shans of Burma to be the Tai Long. The Shan-Chinese,
whose States Indicate the line followed by Shan migration into
Burma, also share this title of Tai LOng. No doubt the name is
due to the fact that the earliest political centre was established by
the northern branch of tlie family as well as to the probability that
it was I he strongest when the kingdom of Nan-chaocame toan end.
These earliest settlers and other parties from Yunnan gradually
pressed southwards, but the process was slow. It was not' until the
fourteenth centur)' that the Siamese Tai established themselves in
the great delta of the Mfenam, between Cambodia and the MGn
country. It seems probable enough that this latest movement,
which must also have been made in the greatest strength, was the
direct result of the conquest of the Shan kingdom of Ta-H-fu by
Prince Kublai in A. D. 1253.
The early history of the Shans in Burma is very obscure. There
is little doubt that a powerful Shan kingdom called Mong Mao L6ng
grew up in the north in the neighbourhood of the Shweli river.
The late Mr. Ney Elias identified the capital as the modern Mong
Mao, but there can be no doubt that he was wrong. That place
was not adopted as capital until long after the kingdom had reach-
ed its period of greatest power. Everything points to the fact, how-
ever, that the kingdom was that of the Mao Shans, the Shans who
settled along the Shweli river. New kin^s verj- often chose new sites
for their capitals. These were always near the Nam Mao, and
the site which was most often adopted was that of Cheila according
to Ney Elias' manuscript. There can be scarcely any doubt that
this was the modern SJ; I.an, about 13 mileseast of Nam Hkam and
close to the frontier, which here is the Shweli river or Nam Mao,
beyond which at no very great distance is the modern Mong Mao.
The modern Sfe Lan is a village of no great size. It stands
on the highest point of an irregular four-sided plateau, which
rises to a height of 200 or 300 feet above the valley level and
is about a square mile in area. This plateau is completely sur-
rounded by an entrenched ditch, which is in many places 40 or
50 feet deep. There no doubt was once also a wall, but this has
\^
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI.
completely mouldered away. A few miles off is Pang Hkam, also
an old Mao capital, and also with the remains of an earthen para-
pel and ditch enclosing an even larger area. In the neighbour-
hood are a number of bare detached hills surrounded by formid-
able entrenchments. The local people ascribe the construction of
these cities and works to the Chinese, but they are very ancient,
have a great resemblance to the other ancient cities found in all
parts of the Shan States, and there can be very little doubt are old
capitals of the Mao Shans. If Nan-chao was not Kawsampi and
the Kingdom of P6ng, then we may take it for granted that this
Mao Shan kingdom was.
The silence of Burman histor\' with reference to this kingdom
is strange and is only to be explamed on the assumption that what
they then knew as Tayoks were really the Shans and that the trans-
ference of the name centuries aftenvards to the Chinese was accom-
plished without the recognition of the fact that they knew nothing
of the real Chinese until the Shan kingdom of Nan-chao was over-
thrown. Tai chronicles indicate that the Mao Kingdom began in
the seventh centurj' of our era and maintained itself with varying
degrees of prosperity until the rise of Anawra-hta, the King of Pagan,
This monarch gained ascendency in much of the plain country^
which up till then the Shans had held. It is for this reason that
Mr. Parker looks upon Anawra-hta Mengsaw as the first definite
King of Burmese history and thinks that his famous visit to China,
in quest of the Buddha's Tooth, took him no further than the in-
dependent State of Nan-chao, then called the Tayok country.
On his return Anawra-hta married a daughter of the Mao Shan
King. Ney Ellas says that the Mong Mao chronicle states that
that Chief "g.ive his daughter to the Pagan monarch, though it is
"also staled that he never went to the Pagan Court as a true vassal
" must have done.** But whether he became a real vassal of Anaw-
ra-hta or not, it is quite clear that when that King's reign came to
an end in 1052 A. D. the Sanobwas of the Mao Kingdom remained
independent. In 12 10 A. D. there was some sort of change in the
succession, indicated in the Hsen \Vi Chronicle by a fairy tale and
the reign of a Princess Yi Kang llkam, and in the Mong Mao
chronicle, by what Ney Ellas calls ' a third influx of Kun Lung's pos-
" terity in the person of Chau*ainio-kam-neng, of the race of Kunsu
" of Maing-kaing Maing-nyaung." Whatever the facts may have
been, there followed two brothers, who extended the limits of the Mao
Kingdom to the farthest point they ever reached. These were Sao
(or Hso) Hkan Hpa and bam L6ng Hpa. The HsenWi Chronicle,
it may be remarked, gives more credit to Hso Hkan Hpa than is
allowed him in the story of Mong Mao. However that may be, the
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
197
younger brother (they were twins according to the Hsen VVi ver-
sion), Sam Lung Hpa, hocSLme Sawb7va oi Mogaung, where he built
a new ciiy and established a new line of powerful princes tributary
to Mong Mao, five years before Hsd Hkan Hpa succeeded to the
throne of the Mao Shans in 1235. Four campaigns were under-
taken and the dominion of the Mao Shans was enormously extended.
The suzerainty of Hsu Hkan Hpa was caused lo be acknowledged
as far south as Moulmcin and to KCng Hong on the east. His
dominions were extended westwards by the over-running of Arakan,
the destruction of its capital, and the invasion of Manipur. Assam
was subjugated in 1229 A. D. and pa-ssod under the rule of the
Shans, who were henceforth styled Ahom in that country. It is
claimed that even the Tai Kingdom of Ta-li [it may be noted that
the name of Nan-chao is quite unknown to the Shan chroniclers.
It is a purely Chinese term and means Southern Prince] acknow-
ledged allegiance to the Mao King before its fall under the attack
of Kublai Khan in 1253 A. D. In fact it may have been the ag-
gressiveness of the Mao Shans which brought down the Mongolian
army. Dr. Gushing thinks it more likely, however, that ihe relation
of Ta-li was one of alliance rather than subordination. For nearly
thirty years after the conquest of Yunnan by the Mongol-Chinese
army, the Chinese hung about the frontier, and then in 1 2S4 A. D. a
Mongolian force, we are told, swept down on Pagan and overthrew
the Burman monarchy. This expedition seems in no way to have
harmed the Mao Kingdom. It could hardly have passed through
without doing so if the Mao King had been hostile. The presump-
tion therefore has been that there was some sort of agreement if not
a direct alliance, and indeed this is indicated by the legends of
the Hsen \Vi history. It is from this conjunction perhaps that the
Burmese jingle, Tar6k Taret, takes its beginning. Just at this
period a new capital called Man Maw was established in A. D.
1285, near the site of the present town of Bhamo, and this suggests
a revival of Shan power in the plains where Auawra-hla had curbed
or destroyed it. Moreover, the weakening of the power of Burma
by the overthrow of Pagan was favourable to the Mao Kingdom,
for it is claimed that the Mao territories were increased by the con-
quest of the Mfenam valley to Ayuthia and of Yunzalin and Tavoy.
This we know was rather the commencement of the present King-
dom of Siam than its conquest by an army of Mao Shans and
conversion into an integral part of the Mao realm. Following as
it did on the overthrow of the Kingdom of Nan-chao or Ta-li, it seems
safe to say that the destruction of Pagan was the result of this in-
vasion of the Mongolians, but that it was not the Chinese at all
who effected it, but the Shans diiven from their old independent
198
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
kingdom. The whole question requires much more elucidation
than Is at present possible, but it may be pointed out that Mr.
Parker hints at the same thing when he says: " We may there-
" fore reject the whole story of the Mongols ever having reached the
"then capital of New Pagan, though it is quite possible that Shan
" auxiliaries may have taken the opportunity to sack or loot it,"
The inference seems all the more certain when we find the Shans
immediately afterwards partitioning Burma among them on the
death of Kyawzwa, the last King of the Anawra-hta dynasty. It
may be parenthetically added that the three Shan brothers who
divided the empire seem lo be alluded to in the history of On Bawng
Hsi Paw. Sir Arthur Phayrc says they came from the small Shan
State of Binnaka. which has always been rather a problem. These
chronicles, now first translated, seem to prove that Binnaka is Peng
Naga, a man, and not a small State, and that his three sons, or more
probably descendants, were the rulers of Sagaing, Panya, and Myin-
zaing.
Up to this period there is a considerable correspondence in
the details of the various Shan chronicles. From this time on
they diverge and become more local and parochial. The pro-
sperity of the Mao Kingdom, we are told, "began to wane soon
"after it had attained its greatest area of territory." About the
same time the Kingdom of Nan-chao fell. The opinion may
therefore be hazarded thai all refer to the original independent
Shan kingdom and that Nan-chao, Kawsampi, and the Kingdom
of Pong are the same place. Probably all the Shan Sawhvas
rendered tribute lo a dominant Sawhwa at Ta-li. When he was
overthrown the race split up into a number of unconnected princi-
palities and has remained disunited ever since.
Whether this is the case or not there is no doubt as to the steady
decadence. The Siamese and Lao dependencies became a sepa-
rate kingdom under the suzerainty of Ayuthia, the old capital of
Siam. Wars with Burma and China were frequent and the in-
vasions of the Chinese caused great loss. On one occasion a
king, who may be either of the brothers Sao Ngan Mpa of Mong
Mao, or Sao Kawn Hpa of Mogaung, fled to Ava, was pursued by
the Chinese, and took poison and died there. This was in 1445
A. D., and the circumstance that the Chinese dried his body and
carried it back to their own country with them enables us to com-
pare systems of transliteration as well as to settle dates. This
unlucky monarch is the Thohan-bwa of Burmese history, the Sun-
gampha of Manipur, and the Sz-j^n-fah of Chinese annals. His
gruesome end makes him a landmark and gives him a celebrity
[AP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
t99
that nothing else connected with his history would seem to war-
rant.
It seems most probable that there was no central Shan power,
but, if there were, constant wars weakened it, and the various princi-
palities gained a semi-independence. Of these, Mong Kawng
(Mogaung) was the farthest from China and seems lo have been
the most powerful. Ney Elias' Mong Mao chronicle alleges that
Sao Horn Hpa, the last Mao Sa-wdwa, reigned for eighty-eight years
and died in 1604 A. D. and that his kingdom attained a prosperity
never before realized. This is obviously the mere desire for a
happy bnding which characterizes healthy story-tellers, for it is
certain thai Bayinnaung, the ambitious and successful King of
Pegu, conquered the Mao territory in A. D. 1562 Subsequent
Chinese invasions in A. D. 1582 and in 1604 put a final end to the
Mao Shan dynasty. Although Mong Kawiig maintained a semi-
independence until its final conquest by Alaungpaya a centurj' and
a half later, it may be said that from 1604 A. D. Shan history
merges in Burmese history, and the .Shan principalities, though
they were always restive and given to frequent rebellions and
intestine wars, never threw off the yoke of the Burmans.
It is from this period that the Tai became gradually separated
into groups. The nature of their country made this easy, as no
doubt it also helps to explain their want of coherence; the influence
of neighbouring nations did the rest. Some of these were conquer-
ing, some were absorbent ; all of them were greedy and combative.
Dr. Cushing divides the Tai into three groups— the northern, the
intermediate, and the southern — and he considers the Lu of Keng
Hun^ (the Cheli of the Chinese and the Hsip Hsawng Panna or
XU Panna of many neighbours) and the Hkiin of Keng TQng the
intermediate group. But this seems hardly sufficient to cover such
radical dilTerencesasare marked by distinctive alphabets. A division
which would indicate political influences and would group the Tai
as influenced by Burma, by China, and by the ancient Khmer King-
dom has its attractions, but it certainly would not be adequate.
Physical characteristics and the affinities of language connect the
Tai indisputably with the Chinese. Not one of the written alpha-
bets, however, has the least trace of Chinese influence. A better
classification seems that proposed by the late Mr. Pilcher. He
suggested the consideration of the Tai under four sections — (i) the
north-western, (ii) the north-eastern, (iii) the eastern, and (iv) the
southern. Among the eastern he grouped the Shans of the Cis-
Salween States, which in the light of our later knowledge is not
satisfactory, and with the Siamese he grouped the Lao, who would
more naturally fall under the head of the eastern section. Still the
200
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
arrane^ment is the most convenient for discussion from the Burma
point of view and this may suggest a belter scheme.
In the north-western branch may be included all the Shans
and Shan Burmese who are spread over the north of Burma proper
from Manipur and Assam to Bhamo. Mong Kawng fMogaung)
and Mong Yang (Mohnyin) were both of them capitals of independ-
ent Shan States of some importance, and Mong Kawng, as we have
seen, outlasted the kingdom of the Mao Shans, of which it was
claimed to be a province, for something like a century and a half. It
is somewhat significant that the time of the greatest extension
claimed for Mong Kawng, as will be seen by a reference to its
chronicles elsewhere in this work, is precisely the time of the greatest
power of the Mao Shans and that Sara L6ng Hpa, the first Mo-
faung Sarvbwa, is spoken of as the General Commanding the
lao troops. It is claimed that Sam L6ng Hpa had ninety-
nine Sawhwas under him spread over the provinces of Hkamti,
Singkaling Hkamti on the Chindwin river, Hukawng, Mong
Kung (Maingkaing on the Chindwin j, Mong Yawng, Mong
Yang (Mohnyin), Hsawng Hsup (known as Samjok or Thaung-
thut), Kale, the Yaw country, and Motshobo or Shwebo. Whether
this extensive area was ever controlled from Mogaung at one time
may be doubted, but as to the fact of the supremacy of the Shans
throughout its limits at one time or another there is no dispute.
Kven Burmese history admits this and only claims the establish-
ment of Burmese authority from the year 1442. This subjugation,
however, if it is admitted at all, was only temporary, for in 1526
the Shans of Mogaung had not only shaken off the Burmese voke,
but had conquered Ava, where the Sawhwa of Mohnyin establish-
ed himself as king and was succeeded by the Chief of "Unbaung,"
that is to say, the modern HsiPaw or Thibaw. The Shans there-
fore, whether of Mogaung or Mohnyin, independently, or acting
under the authority and with the support of the Mao Shans, held
Ava for 30 years.
As to the power of the Shans in this part of the country, there
can therefore be no doubt ; what is doubtful is, whether there was
only one kingdom, with Mogaung and Mohnyin and other sites as
alternate capitals, or whether^ as sefms more likely, there were a
number of semi-indejendent States which only united for common
action under a Miiiig Kawng chief of particular energy, or in cases
of national emergency. What details we have will be found else-
where. Here it is only necessary to say that the town of Mogaung
bears every appearance of having once been a large and ver)' thriv.
ing centre. Its area is considerably larger than that of Bhamo and
it contains several miles of paved streets. But it suffered greatly
CHAP. Vr.J THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
in wars with Burma in the i 7th and [8th centuries, and its sack by
the Kachins in 18S3 would have brought permanent ruin had it
not been for the British annexation. Mogaung had for long been
looked upon as a sort of Botany Bay of Upper Burma. Nevertheless,
nothing is more evident than that the country all round has been a
fertile and constantly cultivated rice plain, extending southwards to
Mohnyin, north to Kamaing, and west to Indawgyi. There are
traces of well-used roads, there are ruins of substantial bridges.
But the country is a waste. The Kachins did much to ruin it after
the Burmese had broken the Shan power, and the punishment of the
Kachins bv the Wuntho Sawdwa (it may be noted that in the times of
Shan domination there never was any such Sa-wbwa] resulted In prac-
tical depopulation. Of the villaices nothing remains but temples and
pagodas ; clumps of fruit trees, cotton plants, and gardens run wild.
These are, however, quite enough to prove that the Shans had a pro-
sperous and populous kingdom here and that Mogaung was ordi-
narily, if not always, its capital. North of Katha it cannot be said
that there is any real Burmese population. The people, whether
they are called Shan-Burmese, Kadu, Pwon (or f^pon), are proba-
bly mestizos and have certainly more of the Tai than of the
Burman about them. The Kachins would have finished what the
Burmese began if it had not been for the British annexation and the
North-western Shans would have as completely disappeared as the
Ahom in Assam.
Shans are found for a hundred miles northward of Mogaung,
but the villages are very few even in the Hukawng or Tanai valley,
which river is possibly the main source of the Chindwin. This
valley was formerly all Shan, but the Tai have mostly fled before
Burman oppression and Kachin invasion. Little is known about
the Hkamti Shans, whose country is still practically unexplored, but
the Burmans occasionally enforced their claims and the Kachins
have not altogether displaced them. British influence has not yet
been directly established. The smaller Slate of Singkaling Hkamti
is situated about 60 miles above the junction of the Uyu and Chind-
win rivers and still retains its Sar^'dTva, but the rulers were always
tributary to the power thai held Mogaung, and it cannot be said that
the population retains more direct Tai characteristics than their
Mogaung and Mohnyin neighbours. The same may be said of
Hsawng Hsup, the Thaungthut of the Burmese, and the Sumjok of
old histories. They are mere interesting relics of a great princi-
)ality just as the Moi and Muong cantons in Kwang-si and Tong-
[ing are, and of no greater political independent mterest. The
technical Shan States of Wuntho and Kale, as also of Mong Leng
(Mohlaing) east of the Irrawaddy, were merely nominally so
?6
303
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI.
before the annexation and since then the persons in charge of them,
called Sawbuas from force of habit, have finally ceased to exist and
their territories are as much incorporated in Upper Burma as Mo-
gaung and Mohnyin are. It is more by chance than because of
any difference of status that Hsawng Hsup and Sin^kaltng
Hkamti have survived them. They have not, for somethmg like
two centuries, had any political connection or affinity with the East-
em or Shan Slates proper, and the probability is that they will be-
come more and more Burmanized, ]ust as the old Shan State of
Dhamo has become so Burmanized as hardly to recognize that it
ever was a distinct Shan State.
Briefly it may be said of the North-western or Western Shans that
they were completely subjugated by the Burmese and have become
largely assimilated to them. Even their country has for years been
considered as a part of Burma Proper. They have long been debar-
red from any sympathy or connection with the majn bulk of their
race. Even their women have adopted the Burmese dress, language,
and habits. It is only the extraordinary tenacity of Tai tradition
which has prevented them from becoming indistinguishable from
their conquerors many years ago. The opening of the Mogaung
railway will shortly obliterate what traces of Tai speech and custom
remain. Their written character is becoming less and less used and
known and is likely very soon to disappear everywhere but in Hkamti
L6ng in the extreme north.
The Western Shans have the following account of the foundation
of their States. There was many years ago an Emperor (Udibwa)
of China, whose queen, Keinnaya Dewi Maha-hti, gave birth to a
daughter who was blind. When the Princess, who was named Saw
Hla, had reached the age of twelve, and it was clear that she would
never have the use of her eyes, she was sent adrift on a Nagata
raft, which was stocked, presumably by the mother, with food for a
long journey. One version says the raft was set afloat on the Ta-li
lake and thence got into the Nawngsfe river and so into the Irra-
waddy. Others say simply that it was launched on the Irrawaddy.
Down that river it floated as far as Tagaung, or more precisely
" the shoal at the mouth of the Chaung-bauk above Sab^nago.
There the raft grounded, or was caught by the branch of a tree and
the blind Princess landed. Before very long she met with a tiger
(a white tiger according to the Mansi story-teller), who had been
her husband in a previous existence and now wooed and won her,
and they had four sons. These were named Tho-kaw-bwa, Tho-
ngan-bwa, Tho-kyan-bwa, and Tho-hon-bwa. These are Burma-
nized forms of the Shan Hso Hkaw Hpa, &c., and Hso in Shan
means tiger. When the four boys had grown up, their mother
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
203
Saw HIa fi^avc them a priceless ring, by which they might prove their
identity, and sent them off to iheir father, the Sao W6ng-ti, and told
them to tell her story. The Emperor heard the story, recognized
the ring, and acknowledged the four youths as his grandsons. They
stayed for three years in China, learning statecraft, arid liien re-
turned to the Irrawaddy country. Their grandfatherj the Emperor,
gave to the eldest a gong^ to the second a dagger, to the third a
heron or egret, and the youngest he told to demand towns and
countries from his father, the tiger. The others he said would find
their territories determined for them. Accordingly they returned
to their own country by separate routes. The eldest came to where
Mogaung now is and, when he arrived there, his gong began to
sound of its own accord. By this token he knew that the country
was to be his and he built a city and took charge of all the country
round about. The people called the city first of all Bein-kawn^
because the gong had sounded there, and this was changed in the
course of time to Mong ICawng or Mogaung. The word Bein
appears to be a Western Shan form of the ordinary Man or Wan,
meaning a village, which in Siamese takes the form Ban.
The second brother journeyed on until one day his dagger stood
upright on the ground. Here he founded his capital and it was
called Bcin-mit, the town of the dagger, and in the present day it is
known as Mong Mil or Momeik.
The third marched with his egret until he came to a paddy plain,
where the bird screamed aloud. Here he built his capital and
founded his State and it was called at first Bein-yang, the town of
the egret, and this later became Mong Yang or Mohnyin.
The fourth son came to his father, the tiger, who made no trouble
about marking out a State for him, and it was called at first Bein-hso,
the town of the tiger, and in later times this was changed to Wying
Hso or Wuntho.
Tims the four sons of Saw HIa were all provided for, and their
descendants ruled over the Slates for many generations. The years
300, 301, 302, and 303 of the Burmese era (938 A.D. ei seq.) are
given for the foundation of these States.
Divested of its legeiidary form, the story points to the occupation
of the country immediately round the Irrawaddv by Shans from the
State of Nan-chao before its conquest by kublai Khan. The
name Hso (tiger) is found steadily throughout the Hsen Wi chronicle
and the names given to the four sons are common Shan dynastic
titles. The references to the Ta-li lake and to the Nawngsfe ^the
lake of Si or Yiinnansen) are significant, and the Udibwa or H wang-ti
■was doubtless the ruler not of China but of the Yunnan country.
304
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI.
The North-eastern Shans of Pilcher's classification are what are
generally known as Shan-tay6ks or Chinese Shans. They occupy
that part of Yunnan which bulges westwards towards the Irratvaddy.
The bulk of them are now Chinese subjects, but there are many of
them in Namhkam and Sfelan and all along our Northern Shan
States frontier.
This frontier line undoubtedly practically bisects the old Mao
Shan Kingdom and the various capitals of that kingdom appear to
have been generally situated close to the frontier line, which for some
distance is the Nam Mao, a river better known as the Shweli. The
majority of them would seem to have been on the British side, but
curiously enough the name of Ko-shan-pyi or Kawsampi has clung
with the greatest tenacity to the Chinese States, and the late Mr.
Pilcher struggled unsuccessfully to identify them. There is very little
doubt that they are the true lai Long or Great Tai, and that with
them (though they are not called Shan-Chinese) should be classed
the Shans of Hsen \V1 and Hsi Paw, in fact of our Northern Shan
States together with what Shans there are in Mong Mit. Geo-
graphically Mong Lcng (Mohlaing) would also be included, but,
as has been stated, the population of that extinct State is as
completely Burmanized as the Shans west of the Irrawaddy. There
is indisputably a dialectic difference between the Shan spoken in
the Northern and of the Southern Shan States more distinguish-
able than that between the Shans of Hsen Wi and the true Tai
HVh or Shan-Chinese. Ethnologicaliy, as well as historically, there-
fore these Tai would seem to fall into the same class. The whole
country formerly often changed hands between the Chinese and
Burmese and the present frontier line fairly represents the measure
of their respective success after the Tai themselves ceased to be
the predommating power. Nevertheless there is very little that is
Chinese about the Shan-Chinamen, and their written character
has no sort of resemblance either in form or complexity to that
of China. Undoubtedly they got it from the Burmese, and it is
merely an angular and crabbed form of the character which rightly
or wrongly (most probably wrongly) we look upon as the typical
Tai character. The dress of the Shan-Chinamen is certainly dis-
tinctive, but it is so rather in colour than in fashion or type. The
British Shan dresses almost invariably in white ; the Chinese Shan
in indigo blue. The women's dress is even more distinctive, but it
is so only in pattern, a panel variation in adornment of the identical
seductive garment which doubtless was invented by the Burmese
coquette. None of the Tai-hkfe women wear the crurum non enar-
rabile iegmen oi the celestial belle. Apart from mere differences
of colour and pattern, which are common enough locally, but are
CHAP. VI.] THF. SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
ao5
mere fashionable whims, the chief difference is in the turhan. That
worn by the women of the Southern Shan "States is ordinarily tJie
Burmese women's scarf worn round the head as a turban. The
Shan-Chinese women oftenest wear dark-blue turbans, and these
are very large, approaching the size o( that worn by the Sikh.
In Nantien, Slong Wan, Kan-ngai, and the neighbouring Slates it
broadens to the top and stands a foot high. East of the Salween
it broadens to the sides and has the ends standing up like horns.
East of the M^khong it becomes merely round again and is not so
bulky. Very broad silver bracelets in various patterns are also
characteristic. The Shan-Chinese Chiefs all speak Chinese, but
the mass of the population remains distinctively Tai. There has
been no such assimilation as exists west of the Irrawaddy or in the
Shan States of the south nearest to Burma,
The Eastern Tai is that section of the race which is most directly
known to us as the Shan race ; whence the name Shan came is an
unsolved riddle. We have seen that the Burmese almost certainly
first knew the Tai as Taroks or Tarcts. Is it possible that when
afterwards they heard of the 'Han Jen, the Chinese name for them-
selves, they transferred 'Han into Shan, and made a further ethno-
logical error? The idea is a mere conjecture^ but no other expla-
nation of the name so far as appears is obtainable.
The name Siam is no help, for whether it is "a barbarous Angli-
" cism derived from the Portuguese or Italian word Sctam," or is
derived from the Malay Sayam, which means brown, it can hardly
be said to be a national wordj though it is still used in official docu-
ments and treaties. No doubt it came to appear there through the
foreign contracting parties and not because it was ever used in the
country itself, which seems always to have been called MongThai.
It is quite as much a puzzle as the fact that the Siamese and Lao
call the British Shans Ngio. Mr. Taw Sein Ko thinks it is derived
from Chiampa, Champanagara, y.rf., the country of the Chams or
Siams.
Pilcher grouped together as Eastern Shans all those between the
Irrawaddy and the M^khong. This is convenient from a political
and geographical point of view, but it is not so satisfactory as far as
racial or rather dialectical affinities are concerned. As far east as
the Salween the various States have been under more or less active
Burmese suzerainty for very many years and perhaps centuries. And
the influence exerted, though very far from being anything like so
great as west of the Irrawaddy, except in the States on the edge of
the plateau, has been very considerable. Beyond the Salween Bur-
man control, though it was maintained, was very much less continu-
2o6
THE UPPKR BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
ously or vigorously exerted. Conseqiiently both in rftalecl and in
ttriuen character ihe difference between the Tai east and west of the
Salween is very marked, much more so ihan between the Southern
and the Northern Shans of the Irrawaddy basin. When, if ever,
a clearer history of the original independent Shan States is ob-
tained, it may be possible to determine which of the present sec-
tions of the Tai race has been least affected by outside influences.
!f the theory of the independent Tai Kingdom of Ta-h be correct,
then the Hkiin and the Lu of Kcng Tung and Keng Hung should
occupy that position. In dialect and written character they are
nearer to the Lao than the Tai west of the Salween, but unlike the
Lao they have been very little, if at all, affected by Khmer or Cam-
bodian influence, either directly or through the Siamese. The
traces left by Burmese supremacy are so slight as to be hardly
noticeable. The Chinese have affected them just as little. The
Hkiin appear to be much less numerous than was at one time sup-
posed and, so far from being the inhabitants of the whole great
State of Keng Tong, seem to be merely the inhabitants of the Targe
plain in which the capital is situated. The rest of the Tai popu-
lation calls itself Lii. The Hkiin dialect appears to have been a
good deal Influenced by the Lawa or Wa, who were at onetime the
owners of the whole country down to Chiengmai, where in Mc-
Leod's lime there were " about six villages of them to tiic northward,
" besides those near MuangNiong. The rest have fled to the moun-
" tains round Klang Tung, which country, however, is said also for-
" merly to have belonged to them." This is remembered in the
curious coronation ceremonies at Keng Tong (y. v.) in which two
(f^fl always figure. The Hkiin may therefore be looked upon as
merely a branch of the Lu, and the fact that Keng Tung annals
supply practically no hints whatever as to Tai history and have no
connection with other Tai chronicles, is the less disappointing.
We are therefore thrown back on the Lii, but unfortunately no Lii
chronicles are yet available. The Lii differ so considerably from
the Tai L6ng type and also, though in a less degree, from the Cis-
Salween Shans, that it seems that it is there we must seek for the
true history of the race. They seem to be nearer to the Pai-i and
Min-ch'iang and what not of Yiinnan and to the Moi, Do, and Muong
of Tongking and Kwangsi, so far as information is available about
these Tai types, than to the Shans on the hither side of the Sal-
ween. Yet they disown all connection with the Tai, as they call the
people west of the Salween, and with the Tai Hk6, Chinese-Shans,
many of whom are settled among them, live in distinct villages, and
also disown all relationship. It is precisely these intermediate
groups, as Dr. Gushing calls them, wno insist most firmly on their
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
307
local names of Lii, Hkiin, and Lern and apply ihe name Tai only
to those of the race whom we know to have been most affected by
the Burmese. The Lem, according to their tradilioiiSj are un-
doubtedly fugitives or emigrants from the Nam Mao region. They
use the " diamond " or Mao Shan character perhaps most frequent-
ly, though the Lii alphabet is also used. There is also not a little
confusion caused by the fact that some considerable Lao settlements
have been made in iheir midst, and retain in their religious books
the Lao, or Siamese Shan character, though Siamese armies never
came near either Keng Hung or Mong Lem. It is precisely because
these Tai are intermediate or rather central, removed from Chi-
nese, Cambodian, and Barman influence, that they might be expect-
ed to retain the original race name. It is characteristic of the
puzzle that it is they who disown it most stoutly.
W ho were the first inhabitants of the country which we now call
the Southern Shan Stales is very uncertain, but it is indisputable
that the Tai came there much later than they did to the northern
portion. The Burmese also extended their influence here very
much earlier, and it would almost seem as if the Tai first came only
after the disruption of the Kingdom of Nan Chao, that is to say,
about tfie same time that the Kingdom of Siani came into exis-
tence. The chronicles of Lawk Sawk and Lai Hka are the only
Southern Shan histories of any length which it has been possible to
obtain. They are written entirely from a Burman point of view,
yet they seem to show that the Southern States only became im-
portant and began to have a history when the Mao bhans became
prominent and overran northern Burma.
Of the southern group it is not necessary 10 say much. From
an abstract point of view it would probably be better to class the
Lao or Siamese Shans with the Lii and likiin, but politically
the two sections are not and never have been connected. Whe-
ther the Lao are the ancestors of the Siamese, and have yielded
to them as the wealthier and more powerful possessors of the
Mtjnam valley, or whether, as more likely, the Siamese established
themselves separately and, when they gained strength and prosperity
on the sea-board, began to extend their authority backwards on
their line ol immigration, is a question of some interest, but it does
not concern a Gazetteer of British possessions. The identity of the
Siamese with the Lao as a race is undoubted, though they differ
from them and the others more than the latter do from each other.
The Pai-y, the Tho, thePhou-tay, Moi, and the Muoiig may con-
tribute something to the history of the race, but so far we have little
information about them. About Ssu-mao the whole country is re*
ally governed by Tai Chiefs. The Chinese are found only in the
3o8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI.
towns and only in the chief of these. They divide the Tai into the
Han Pai-y, those who live on firm ground or uplands ; and the Shui
Pai-y, riverain or wet-bottom Tai, accordingly as they live on the
hills or in the valleys. They also drag herrings across the trail by
speaking of ' H6 Pai-y, black Shans, and Hoa Pai-y, streaky, parti-
coloured, or speckled Shans, which names arise from differences of
dress. Frenchmen have recorded that the Pai-y of Ssu-mao under-
stand the Tho dialect of Lung-chao. It is also certam that they
understand the Lu of Keng Hong. They have a written charac-
ter, but whether this resembles more the Lu or the Mao, or is again
different, there is nothing on record to determine. Neither, so far as
the compiler knows, has any one made known what character the
Tho and Muong use. In a note on the Tho of the province of
Hung Hao in Tongking, we are told incidentally that they have
36 letters in their alphabet and that " /fs /nots composes de sylla-
" bes s'ecn'veni comme Ckriture europSenne mats verticaUmenf de
haul en bas." At the same time the few words given are undoubt-
edly Tai, approximating to the Lao form, thus: —
Bo-my = Parents.
Kin ngai = To eat rice.
Kin nam = To drink water.
Aft dau mi pha bo mi phau = There is betel and arecanut,
but no lime.
Mi p hue mi i>ha bo micaunon — There are mats and blan-
kets, but tnere is no one sleeping.
We have thus obtained a view of the Tai race as a whole and
may proceed to a consideration of their histories and traditions as
shown in such of their chronicles as are available. Before doing
90, however, it will be well to consider their system of counting
time, which is indeed not a little significant as to their origin.
The Shans of British territory have adopted the Burmese era,
both religious and civil, but this was not always
^SUn cycle nr Hpfc the case. Formerly, like the Chinese Cam-
bodians, Annamese, and, to a certain extent, the
Siamese of the present day, they counted their time by cycles.
Of these there are two : the small cycle and the great cycle. The
former includes twelve years and the great cycle is made up of
five small cycles and covers sixty years. Though this system has
fallen out of general use and is quite unknown by many Shans, still
it is frequently made use of in historical documents, and tho con-
fusing of it with the era adopted from Burma leads to (he errors
in dates, which are conspicuous in what Shan histories are avail-
able.
HAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAl.
The Shans and the other Indo-Chinese races may be assumed
to have learnt the system from the Chinese, who date the com-
inencemenl of the sexagenary cycle from B. C. 2637 in the sixty-
first year of Hwang-ti's reign. This Luh-shih-liwa Kia Tsu seems
to have been perfectly arbitrary in every way, for no explanation
now exists of the reasons which induced its inventor, Hwang-ti,
or his minister, Nao the Great, to select this number. Dr. Williams
in his book the Middle Kingdom thinks that it was not derived from
the cycle of Jupiter of tlie Hindus, but that both Hindus and Chi-
nese got it from the Chaldeans. The similarities are so striking as
to indicate a common origin, but this is so remote that its genesis is
a complete mystery, particularly since Prinsep (Indian Antiquities
II, Useful Tables, page 159 et seg) thinks that the introduction of
the system into India is of comparatively recent date, or about
the year 965 A. D. In the Chmcse scheme there are ten so-
called " stems " {Shih kan) and twelve *' branches " (Shih-erh chi),
which are five times repeated. The twelve branches have the names
of as many animals and the stems are combined in couplets to form
multipliers to these. These two sets of horary characters are also
applied to minutes and seconds, hours, days, and months, signs of
the zodiac, points of the compass, and are also made to play an
important part in divination and astrology. In the Cambodian, Lao,
Annamese, and Siamese schemes the twelve branches are named,
according to Gamier (\'oyage d' Exploration, I, page 93 and page
466), after animals in the same way as the Chinese, but the animals
are not all precisely the same, nor do they come in the same order.
A comparative list stands thus: —
Shan.
Chinese.
Lno and
Annamese.
Cambodian.
Siamese.
Nu
Hii. Rat
Rat
Ox
Rat, Ch'uat.
Kwai wo ...
Niu, Ox
Ox
Tiger ...
Ox. Ch'alu.
Hsa
Wei, Tieer
Tiger
Hare
Tiger, KSn.
Pang-tai ...
Fang, Hare
Hare
Dragon .'...
Hare, Tao,
Ng6k
Ngu
Ma
Kioh, Dr.-igon ...
Yih. Snake
Sing, Horse
Dragun ...
Snake
Horse
Snake
Hor«e
Goat
Grcal dragon, Marfing.
LiUle dragon. Maseng.
Horse, Mamia.
Pe
Ling
Kwei, Goal ...
Tsui, Monkey
Mao, Cock
Goat
Monkey ,.,
Cock
Monkey ...
Cock
Dog
Goal, Marai.
Monkey, Wawk.
Cock, Rika.
Ma
Sang mu ...
L.eu, Dog
Shih, Bear
Dog
Pig
Pig
Rat
Dog. Chao.
Pig. Kun.
37
2IO
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI.
But Gamier does not show \n what way the twelve names are
classified or multiplied in order to form a cycle with each of the
sixty years bearing a separate name. Sir John Bowring, however,
speaks of the Siamese cycle as composed of a fivefold repetition
of the twelve names arranged in decades, the first commencing with
the rat and ending with the cocJ^, the second beginning with the
dog and ending with the goal, and so on regularly to the sixth
decade.
This is shown in the following syn
optical table
: —
Year of the rat ...
1'
3^
s
Q
7"
i
Year of the ox
Year of the tiger
s
3
il
4
5
n
6
7
■a
■T3
8
9
a u
C
r
u.
Year of the hare
4
1
6
.■c
8
•a
to
X
2
^
•o
X
Year of the great dragon ...
5
■■u
;
c
9
r-
il
3
Year of the little dragon ...
6
2
8
V)
10.
a
4
li
1
u
Year of ihe horse
7
bl
9
r
3
5
Year of the goal
8
io-
a
4
4
«
6
Year of the monkey
Year of the cock
Year of the dog
9
k-o ^
1"
2
3
■•0
3
4
S
u
V
r
1
5
6
7
t3
■ «
•a
X
7
8
9
el's
Year of the pig
aJw-S
4^
^
6,
8.
10^
The present year 1897 is the year of the cock, the fortieth year
of the fortieth cycle of the P'uti'a Sakarat, the sacred era, and the
fifty-eighth year of the twentieth cycle of the Chula Sakarat, the
civl] era. It may be added that ihe modern Siamese use the
Bangkok era, in which 1897 is the year 115.
The Chinese date for the same year is the thirty-third year of the
seventy-sixth cycle, or the four thousand five hundred and thirty-
third since its institution. Ney Elias, in his Sketch 0/ the History
of t e Shans, gives the following table, but omits to say whether
it was supplied to him in this form. He says: "it is noteworthy
" also that the names used for the animals are nearly entirely the
'* Laotian names and not those of their own (the Northern Shan)
" language." He does not give his authority for this statement,
which as a matter of fact is incorrect. The names given are, with
allowances for double interpretation and running the ordeal of two
ears, practically identical with those of the table commonly used
in the Shan States, which is given below.
CHAP- VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
2ll
Table ybr naming the years of the Shan cycle when the number is given,
or numbering them when the name is given.
Saw.
Flaw-
NgJ.
Mail.
Si.
Sm.
Singa.
Mut.
San.
Raw.
Mil,
Kiu.
Kap
I
5»
41
31
21
1 1
Dap
a
52
43
32
22
la
Rai
>3
3
53
43
33
23
Mung
H
4
51
44
34
24
Plelt
=5
>5 1
S
55
45
35
Kat
36
16
6
56
46
36
Khut
37
27
17
7
57
47
Rung
49
38
2a
18
8
58
4B
Taw
39
29
19
9
59
Kaa
50
40
30
20
lo
60
'* The system," Ney Elias continues, " is doubtless the same as the
Indian cycle of sixty or the ' Jovian cycle,' though this is not
arranged in twelves and tens, but in a continuous list of sixty
single appellations. Under the name of Vrihaspati Chakra this
has been discussed and tabulated by Prinsep in the second volume
of Indian Antiquities. Though he points out, what is obvious,
that the small cycle of twelve — the so-called ' branches' of the
Chinese — is in fact the true cycle of Jupiter (one revolution of
Jupiter is really only about eleven years and ten months), he gives
no explanation of the origin of ten ' stems' or multipliers. In
his comparative table, the first year of the Indian list corresponds
with the fourth of the Chinese,. and this Prinsep believes goes far
to disprove the connection of the two systems ; but it is curious
that some Brahmin astrologers at Mandalay, who were applied to
for an explanation of the above Shan scheme, at once connected
it with the Indian cycle by producing the following table, or
transfer of the Shan into the Hindu cycle in every day use in
India." The Sanskrit names as transliterated for Elias are almost
3t3
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
identical with those given by Prinsep. The Shan names are not
those of Ney Elias. but of the common Shan table.
No.
Shan
name.
Hindu name.
1
Kap Sau
■
Prabhava.
3
Lap Pao
■••
. . .
Bibhava.
3
Hai Yi
...
...
Sukla.
4
M6ng Mao
>..
• ..
PromudhaL
5
P5k Hsi
...
...
Projaputi.
6
Kat Hsad
...
...
Angira.
7
Hkat Hsa-Dga
••.
. • -
Srimukha.
8
Hfing Mat
...
Bbava.
9
Tao Hsan
..t
...
Juba.
lO
KaHao
•••
...
Dhattri.
11
Kap Mit
•••
...
Iswara.
12
Lap Kau
...
.*■
Bohudhanja.
13
Hai Sau
• ••
...
Promatbi.
14
M5ng Pao
...
...
Vikrama.
<5
PakYi
...
...
Brisha.
i6
Kat Mao
.••
■••
Chitrabhanu.
«7
HkQt Hsi
...
...
Subhann.
i8
Hdng Hsaii
■ ..
...
Tarooa.
»9
Tao Hsa-nga
•■.
.. ■
Partbiba.
20
KaMat
■ •.
•••
Byaya.
21
Kap Hsan
...
...
Sarajit.
22
Lap Hao
...
...
Sarvadhari.
23
Hai Mtt
...
Virudhi.
24
Mdng Kau
...
...
Bikrita.
25
P6k Sau
...
• •■
Khora.
26
Kat Pao
. . ■
...
Nongdona.
27
HkQt Yi
...
...
Vijaya.
28
HOng Mao
...
...
Jaya.
29
Tao Hsi
• .•
...
Munmutha.
30
Ka Hsaii
...
...
Durmukha.
3<
Kap Hsa-nga
...
...
Himalongba.
32
Lap Mot
■ t.
...
Bilongba.
33
Hai Hsan
...
...
Vikari.
34
Mdng Hao
■ • •
• . •
Sarbari.
35
F5k Mit
...
...
Plava.
36
Kat Kad
...
• * .
Subha-krita.
37
HkQt Sad
> >.
...
Subhana.
3«
Hang Pao
■*•
■ • .
Krudhi.
39
Tao Yi
• *.
. • ■
Bisvabasu.
40
Ka Mao
.* •
...
Porabhava.
4»
Kap Hsi
■•p
...
Plabanga.
4a
Lap Hsau
«*«
...
Kiloka.
43
Hai Hsa-nga
■■«
...
Saumya.
^m CHAP. Vt.] THE SHAN STATES AND THF TAl. 213 I
^^K
Shan name.
Hindu name. ^^H
Mong Mut
Pok Hsan
Kat Haa
Hkot Mit
Hung Kau
Tao tJau
Ka Pao
Kap Yi
Lap Mao
Hai Hsi
M5ng Hsaii
Pok Hsa-nga
Kat Mut
Hkut Hsan
Hong Hao
Tar> Mit
Ka Kau
Sadharona. ^^^M
Virudhi-Krita. ^^^|
Paridharbi. ^^H
Promnrthi. ^^H
Anangda. ^^H
Rak-Kliyosa. ^^H
Pinga)a. ^^^^
Kalyukla. ^^H
Sidharthi. ^^M
Rudra. ^H
Dundhubhi. ^^H
Rudhirud'Gari. ^^H
Kaktak-kha. ^^H
Krudhana. ^^H
Akhyaya. ^^^|
^1 No trace of a serial numbering of the sexagenary periods seems
^M to have been found in Chinese writings any more than a reason why
^B the period of sixty years was selected. U is therefore toe much to
^M expect that the Shan books should be more methodical. If the
^H number of the cycle and the name of any particular year were given,
^M it would be an easy matter 10 identify the date, but the omission of
^B both leaves a wide margin for conjecture and has led to the errors
^M in chronology and the repetition ol the same historical fact in suc-
^H cessive centuries which Mr. Parker has detected in Sir Arthur
^H Phayre's History of Burma. Before a date can be (ixed from the
^B Shan annals it is necessary to determine some starting: point which
^H will fit the cycle chronology into our calendar. Fortunately this is
^B possible in several instances. The particular event chosen by Ney
^H tlias as sufficiently well-marked for his purpose is singularly enough
^B the very story seized upon by Mr. Parker to prove that "the Mani-
^H " pur chronicle is exactly a century wrong," and that Sir Arthur
^H Pnayre repeats the same story at intervals of a century, the later
^H date being correct. This is the flight of the Chau Ngan-phaKing
^H of Mong Mao according to Ney Elias; Tho-ngan-bwa, Sawbiva
^B of Mogaung according to Sir Arthur Phayre ; Sz-jt-n-fah, Sawbwa
^H of Luh-ch'wan according to Mr. Parker. The Shan form would be
^B Sao Ngan Hpa. This chieftain fought with the Chinese and was
^H defeated. He then fled to Ava and was followed by the Chinese,
^H who demanded his surrender from the King of Burma. Before he
^H could be given up^ the SawOwa poisoned himself and his body was
414
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
given to the Chinese General, who dried it in the sun and carried
it back to Yunnan. Now this story is told first in Elias' Shan
History of Mong Mao, where the date of Chau-ngan-pha*s death
is placed in a certain year of a certain unnamed and unnumbered
cycle ; secondly, the Burmese annals chronicle the circumstance
under the year 1 444 A D. ; thirdly, in Dcmailla's History of China
precisely the same event is recorded as having occurred in 1448
A. D. i and finally Mr. Parker translates it from the Momien annals,
but does not give any definite year farther than that " the whole
story belongs to the period 1432 — M5*^*"
From this coincidence of independent annals it is possible to fix
the cycle of the Shan year named and the number in that cycle.
Thus a starting point is obtained. It is not a little singular that
the same incident should furnish us with the means of comparing
Chinese and Burmese forms of transliterating Shan names and
should also demonstrate that the term " Kingdom of Pong," which
has been so long an unsolved riddle, is apparently a generic rather
than a particular name and was applied, or was applicable, to
whatever Shan principality happened for the time to be most power-
ful or most prominent, no matter what its special name might be.
Ney EHas confirms this determination of date by reference to
the conquest of Wehsali, or Upper Assam, by the Samlung-pha
mentioned in his histories of Mong Mao and Mogaung. This
person is the Hkun Sam Long of the Hsen Wi chronicle, and was
brother of the Sawbwa Hso Hkan Hpa, who is Elias' Chau-kwam-
pha and Pemberton's Soogampha. The cycle date for Sara LOng's
conquest of Assam is given in the Shan chronicles. P'our or five
years later a relative named Chau-ka-pha (Sao Ka) was Establish-
ed as first Sawbzaa of the newly conquered territory. " And we
" know from independent modern .'\ssamese sources that the date of
" Chau-ka-pha's accession is 1 229 A,l).j and that it is probably cor-
"rect or nearly so to within a year or two. The event is not only
'* one of the most conspicuous in the history of Mong Mao and of its
" dependency, Mogaung, but with the Assamese it holds a corre-
" sponding position to the Norman conquest in the History o( Eng-
" land, and serves the purely Ahom race m Assam as a starting point
" from which to date their entire history ; for these people first mi-
" grated to that country at the time of Sam-lung- pha's invasion.
" (The fact that they have since entirely disappeared or have
" coalesced with the conquered Hindu population does not affect the
'* history.) Until the reign of King Gaurinath Singh{ 1 780 to 1 795)
" the Assamese annals had been very impei fectly kept, but that king
" caused a commission of Nora astronomers and other learned per-
" sons to be deputed to Mogaung to examine the histories of their
CHAK VI.] THE SHAf^TATES AND THE TAI.
"race in possession of the Shan Buddhist priests of that place, and
" to verify the books (or traditions) brought into the country by
" Chau-ka-pha. The examination completed, this commission re-
"wToie the Ahom history in Assamese, and extended it backwards
"from Sam-lung-pha's conquest of Assam to the founding of the
" first Shan capital on ihe Shweli river, and, in doing so, happily
" made two statements, either of which, like the above story of Chau-
" ngan-pha, would in itself be sufficient to identify a cycle as a start-
" ing point. The first statement is that they, the astronomers and
" others, having calculated (he dales, &c., fmd that eleven TaoNso'
" ngas (so the cycle is called) elapsed between the descent from
" heaven of the founders of the city on the Shweli to the accession
" of Chau-ka-pha as King of Upper Assam ; the second is an inci-
" dental remark that ihe Burmese commenced their national era with
" the reign of the Mao King Ai-dyep-that-pha Now, if eleven
" Tiiohsa-ngas, or six hundred and sixty years, be subtracted from
" the date, r2 29 A. D.. the year of Chau-ka-pha*s accession, we arrive
"at 569 A. D., or within one year of the dale that would be shown by
"subtracting theaggregate of the reigns from the date of Chau-
" ngan-pha's death. Again, the reign of Ai-dyep-that-pha is stated
" by the Shans to have commenced in the seventieth year after the
" foundation of Mung-ri-niunT-ram (the Mong Hi and Mong Ham
" on the M^khong of the Hsen \Vi Chronicle), which would give 56S
" -f 70 or 638 A.D. as the year usually assumed for the commence-
" ment of the Burmese national era."
When the starting point U thus obtained, the dales can easily be
fixed, for the length of each Sawbtva's reign is carefully preserved
and forms the main basis for reckoning the dates. Comparison wiih
the Burmese calendar is also an assistance, as are the Chinese
dates, though the former is uncertain owing to the interference
with the calendar of various kings for superstitious or ambitious
reasons ; and the latter because of the arrogant Chinese fashion of
ignoring Burmese and Shan titles and using surnames which they
mangled, or inventing family names such as never have existed
either among Burmans or Shans. The Chinese Emperors, whose
real names were also tabooed, and who used reign styles just as the
Popes do, always affected to believe that the writers of letters from
tributary States — and they considered all the world tributaries —
used only their family and personal names. When they knew
these they used them. Thus Sin-byu-shln is known as Miing Yiin,
that is to say, Maung Waing, and Tharrawaddi is referred to as
Meng K'eng, Maung Hkin. When they did not know tliem, they
devised wild travesties which stood for " family names,"
2l6
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI.
The Tat cycle calendar, or Hp^ IVan, is no longer used in any
part of the British Shan States. It appears in old histories of
Hsen \Vi and the Northern Shan Stales, but is never used in the
southern chronicles. The Shan-Chinese may use it, but this is not
known for a fact. As a means of calculating lucky days, working
out horo-copes, and divination generally, it is, however, the text-
book of Shan diviners, as it is ^^•ith the Chinese. Details of it in
this form are given in a later chapter.
The late Mr. Ney Ellas, in his Introductory Sketch of the
J. History of the Shans, was the first to gather
'^ °^' together details about the country which is
now definitely known as the Shan States. He had the advantage
of visiting the northern part of the country, that of the Tai Lung, the
great Shans, before the perpetual civil war of the latter days of
Burmese rule had destroyed practically every ancient record in
every part of the British Shan States. He compared the manu-
scripts he obtained wiih what earlier information was available from
Major Boileau Pcmberion's account of the Kingdom of Pong de-
rived front a Manipur Shan Chronicle {Report on the Eastern Fron-
tier of British India, Calcutta, 1835) and with this he collated
details noted by Dr. Richardson, Colonel Hannay, Dr. Anderson,
and others in various scattered journals and papers.
Unfortunately Elias's notes were collected for him by "a well-
read Hindu moonshee," whose capacity for catching Shan names
and committing them to paper afterwards was not on the same level
with his reading. It does not appear that Ellas obtained actual
possession of the manuscripts, but in any case what he gives in his
pamphlet is compiled from the moonshee 's notes. He describes
the process as follows : —
"I engaged him to give me verbal rxtracis of historical notes con-
cerning the Shaos id Englisli, omitting the fabulous portions, and also to
fill up the many voids they then contained, hy cousuhing the Shan priests
resident at Mandalay and others who had a knowledge of ih^ir books. In
this way not only were several Shan histories put under contribution, but
a number of Byrmese translations of Siian books were examined and their
contents made available either as criginal material, or as Lhc means of
rectifying uncertain [joints derived from the more direct sources, while
native Burmese and Assamrse works were also utilized for reconciling
doubtful dales, or events with well-ascertained historical facts in the an-
nals of those conntries. Thus the story is not a translatiou of any par-
ticular work, but an outline sketched from a variety of sources,"
It is greatly to be regretted that Elias did not give the trans-
lations separately, so that the different sources of information might
be ascertained, h Is ai any rale certain that the various names
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AKD THE TAI.
aiy
were a good deal tortured from the Shan form both by the Bur-
mese translators and by the moonshee. In the following extract
therefore the names have been restored, wherever it is possible, to
their Shan form. In what Ellas calls " the story of Mung-mau " he
believes that he has identified that now-a-days insignificant Shan-
Chlnese State with Kawsampi and the Kingdom of P6ng. As we
have seen, this appears more than doubtful.
Though the Mao Shans trace their existence as a nation to
the fabulous and comparatively recent source of the heaven-
descended Kings Hkun Lu and Hkun Lai, as will be seen below, still
as a race they appear from the Burmese books to have a legend
assigning their origin to the earliest period of Burmese history and
indeed to a common parentage with the latter people. That this
is not an original tradition of their race, but one imported in the
course of Buddhist teachings, there can be little doubt ; but it is re-
markable that no other appears to exist either in their own or Burmese
writings (the researches of Mr. E. H. Parker given below supply
much from the Chinese). The legend is probably the one briefly
referred to in the opening lines of Cap. II of Vule's Afission to Ava
and of which the author jusUy remarks that it is one *' of equal
'* value and like invention to that which deduced the Romans from
" the migrations of the pious JEneas, the ancient Britons from Brut,
" the Trojan, and the Gael from Scota, daughter of Pharoah."
The following epitome is from the Burmese Tagaung Yasa*
win.
"About three hundred years before the birth of Gautama, or 923 B.C.,
and 1491 years before the descent of Hkun Lu and Hkun Lai, a Sakya
prince called A!'hi Rajah arrived from Kapilavastu by way of Arakan
and foundt:d the city of Pagan, called Chindwe in some accounts, on the
left bank of the Irrawaddy. He had two sons whose Burmese names are
Kangyi and Kanng6, and at his death the forriier retired to Arakan and
became king of that country, whilst Kanngfe succeeded his father at Pagan,
and in his turn was succeeded by thirty-one of his lineal descendants,
whose names are given in the Burmese record, but no dates. The last of
these, nr the thirty^-third from Abhi kaia, was one Beinaka (the Shan
Peng Naka of the Ong Pawcig Hsi Paw Chronicle, given elsewhere in this
work) which may be consulted as a variant), who reigned roughly speaking
about the commencement of the religious era, or partly during Gaudama's
lifetime. In the course of Beioaka's reign a Chinese army (as we have
seen. It seems practically certain that this army was Tai, not Chinese)
invaded his country, captured Pagan, destroyed it, and obliged him to take
refuge at Male on the right bank of the Irrawaddy and nearly opposite
the present ruins of Lower Sabiinago (Champa Nagara). Here hcshortly
afterwards died and his people became broken up into three divisions.
One of these remained at Male under Beioaka's Queen, Naga S£ng, a
second wandered towards the south and was absorbed by the Pyu, a sec-
2!8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
tion of the Burmese proper (the name is of Chinese origin), while the third
migrated eastward and became Shans, forming the nineteen original Shan
districts or States.
*' Of these districts or States, no names are given, and probably the
number is an imaginative one; but it is remarkable that the legend of
the Pwons (of whom some, under the name of Hp6n, still live in the third
or upper defile of the Irrawaddy), derived from an eniirely different and
original source, carries us back to this same evcnt^ — the first fall of Old
Pagan. These people pretend that they arc desceudauts of the elephant
drivers, whom the Chinese (? Tai) conquerors pressed into their service to
conduct the elephants captured In the city back to China ; that they escap-
ed thence and wandered westward to the third defile {Kyaukdmn) of the
Irrawaddy, where they are still settled.
" After the Chinese had retired from Pagan, one Dhaja Raja, another
prince of Kapilavastu, came from India, married the widow Naga Seng, and
rebuilt the capital immediately beyond the north wail of the old city. This
was the Tagaung of the Burmese and the lungKungof the Shans, and
the date of Us foundation given by the Burmese is the twentieth year of
the year of religion (523 B.C.) and by the Shans the twenty-fourth year
(519 B.C). After this there are no dates, or numbers of generations, re-
corded with any certainty, but Uhaja Raja's dynasty appears to have
ruled at Tagaung until Hkun Lu displaced it and put his son Ai llkun Lu
on the throne at some date probably within one generation posterior to the
year 568A.D,, if indeed it occurred at all."
It seems very probable that all this has been taken by the
Shan chronicle from the Burmese Afaha Yasawi^i. Elias con-
tinues : —
" It is, however, with the Mao Shans rather than with Tagaung thit
we are concerned, so let ns pass on at once to their earliest national
legend, which is told in alt the Shan histories with apparently little vari-
ation, thus —
"In the year of Religion 1 1 1 1, or 568A.D,, two sons of the gods, named
Hkun Lu and Hkun Lai, descended from heaven by a golden ladder and
alighted in the valley of the Shweli river. They were accompanied by
two ministers Hkun Tun and Hkun Hpun, one of whom was descended
from the sun and the other from the moon ; they were also attended by an
astrologer descended from the family of Jupiter and by a number of
other mythical personages. On arriving at the earth they found men
who immediately submitted to them as rulers sent from the gods, while
one of the mortals callea Laun-gu (this suggests the Chinese name
Laongu or Lao Wu) or Sao Tikan offered to become the servant of the two
brothers. Before leaving heaven, the god Tiing Hkam had given tlicm a
cock and a knife and had enjoined them, immediately on arriving on the
earth, to kill the cock with the knife and to offer up prayers to him at the
same time ; when the ceremony %vas over, they were to eat the head of the
bird themselves and give the body to their ministers and attendants. It
was found, however, that by some mistake the cnck and the knife had beea
left behind and Laun-gu was sent to heaven to bring them down. He went
and returned with both, but reported that the god Tijng Hkam, being augry
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAr.
219
with the brothers for their carelessness in leaving these things behind,
had sent a message that after duly sacrificing the cock, the brothers were
to eat a portion of the body only and give the rest to their attendants.
In this way Laun-gu managed to secure for himself the head. He then
asked the brothers to confer upon him some reward for the service he had
rendered in regaining the sacrificial objects from heaven, and they gave
him the country of Mithila to govern. (This is the Pali or classical name
for Mong Hk&, which is properly speaking Yimnati only and not all China.
VVideharit or Vidcha, a name alsi? given to Yunnan, is another title for the
ancient Mithila or Mcitilla.) Having eaten the head of the cock, he became
a wise and powerful Chinese ruler> while the heaven-descended brothers,
having eaten of the body, remained ignorant Mao Shans.
" Laun-gu, on arriving in Mithila. founded the capital Mting Ky&
(this is no doubt Miing S& LAng, which is the name by which the Shans
know Yunnan-sen, thf. residence of the modern viceroy, or Governor-
General of Yiin-kuei, t,e., the two provinces of Yilnnan and Kuei-chao) and
commenced his rule in 568A.D. He died after sixty years reign in 628 and
was succeeded by his son Sao Pu, wlio also reigned sixty years and was
followed in his turn by his son Hsak-ka in 688 (the term of sixty years
appears so often in these traditionary writings that it suggests the idea of
being merely indicative of a considerable length of time and of meaning
about a cycle). This last with his lineal descendants, it is stated, ruled
for two hundred years, when a relation (of the same race} named Fwei-No-
Ngan-Maing (it is difhcult to make anything of tins name) succeeded to
the throne and. together with his descendants, retained it for one hundred
and fifty years, or to A. D. 1038. Farther than this the Shan records do
not follow Laun-gti rth'as Sao Ti Kan. (It may be noted that this is roughly
speaking the time of .\nawra-hta, the conquering king of Pagan.)
*' Shortly after their descent to earth Hkun I^u and Hkun Lai qaarrelled
on the subject of precedence and the former determined to abandon his
claim to the kingdom in the Shweli valley and to found a new one for him-
self. With this view he packed the two images of his ancestors, one male
called Sung and one female called Seng, into a box, and started towards
the west, carrying the box upon his htad. He crossed the Irrawaddy and
shortly afterwards arrived at a place near the Uyu river, a tributary of the
Chindwin, where he established himself and founded a city called Mdng
KOiig Moug-Yawiig (this is no doubt the disLrict of, and round about, the
present Singkaling Hk:unti) whence he sent forth his sons or. relations to
become rulers of neighbouring States. Of these there appear to have been
seven, but whether sons or not is uncertain : however, it is of little impor-
tance, as from the following list it will be seen that this part of the record
has hardly yet emerged from the domain of fable. (With this may be
compared the story of the Hsen Wi chronicle, which i? given below, of the
five brothers who came from the Mfehkong from Mflng Hi, M6ng Ham,
which appear to be Elias's Mung-ri Mung-ram.)
Distribution of Hkun Lu's posterity {i.e., his seven sons or descendants).
I. Ai Hkun Lung ... King of Tung Kung or Tagaung.
3. Hkun Hpa ... King of Mong Yar.g (Mohnyin). He paid a tribute
of a large number ('* ten lakhs") of horses.
220
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEKR. [CHAP. VI-
3, Hkun Ngu ,,. King of Lamung-Tai, i.e., La B6Qg near Chicng-
niai. He paid a yearly tribute of three hund-
red elephants
4. Hkun Kawt Hpa ... King of Vnn LAn or Mting Yawng (probably
Garnier's MSng Yong, the former capital of Keog
Cheng, the Cis-jM&khong portion of which is now
annexed to Keng Tung). Yearly tribute, a
(juantity of gold,
g. Hkun La ... King of Mong Kala or Kale on the right bank of
(he Chindwin above Mingin. Tribute, water
from the Chindwin river.
6. Hkun Hsa ... King of Ava [sic), but probably Mfing Mit is
meant, since a ruby mine is said to have exist-
ed at his capital. Tribute 2 viss (about 7 pounds
weight) of rubies yearly.
7. Hkun Su ... King of MOng Yawng on or near the Uyu river,
where bis father Hkun Lu had also reigned.
Hkun Su reigned for 25 ycirs from 6o3 to 633 A. D.
Sao Hsen Sau, .1 son, reigrvcd for ig years from 633 to 652 A. D.
Sao Hkun Kyaw, a «>n, reig^ned for 15 jears ironi 653 to 667 A. D.
Sao Hkun Kyun. a son, reigned for 1 1 years from 667 to 6;8 A. D.
" During the reign of this last, his son Hkam Pdng Hpa went to reside
at Mong Ri NfSng Ram, and afterwards reigned there as king of Mcing
Mao. [The M^'Jng Ham, wliich this would appear to be, is still one of the
XII Fauna of Keng Hung (ChSIi.)]
"Thus Hkun Lu and his posterity reigned at Mong K6ng MBng Yawng
for one hundred and ten years, and meanwhile Hkun Lai had founded a
capital called Mong Ri Mong Ram at a short distance from the left bank
of the Shwcli, and supposed to be some 8 or 9 miles to the eastward of
the present city of Mcing Mao, [Here Ney Elias was probably misled.
See the Hsen Wi Chronicle below.] Here lie reigned for seventy years
and was succeeded by his son Ai Hlep Htat Hpa, who ruled for forty
years, but who died without issue in 67S A. D. and consequently in the
fortieth year of the Burmese era. The son of Sao Hkun Kyun, mentioned
in the above list, was then created king, and in his person Hkun Lu's line
became supreme among the Mao. The length of his reign is not known,
hut he was followed by his son, during whose rule the capitil Miing Ri Mong
Ram declined and became of secondary importance to the town of Ma-
Kao Mong LAng, which was situated on the right bank of the river and
believed to be some 6 or 7 miles west of the capital. This king was
succeeded by hJs younger brother, Hkam Hsip Hpa, who ascended the
throne in 703 A. D. and established his court at Ma-kao M5ng L6ng, thus
finally abandoning Mong Ri Mong Ram. [Un this Elias has the following
note: — *' See Hannay {Sketch 0/ Singphos, &.C., 1847, page 54), where the
name of Kai Khao Mau Loung, the great and splendid city, is given as the
capital of the PAng kingdom on the Shweli. The name Mau is significant,
though my informants make it Mung. At page 55 Hannav gives Moong
Khao Loung as the old name for the present Mogaung ; in both these khao
probably means city." Want of knowledge of Shan led to this error. Ktto
means old ; M. Kao, M. L6ng means simply " the old (or former) city, the
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
asi
great city." U is unwise to make definite assertions, but it may be sug-
gested that " the old capital " may be either the Hsen S6 Man S6 of the
Hscn Wi Chronicle or Ta-H Fu, the capital of Nanchao^
" During the. next Ihrec hundred and thirty-two years Hkam Hsip Hpa
and his descendants appear to have reigned in regular succession, while
nothing worth recording is to be found during the whole of this period.
The succession, however, was broken at the death of Sao I,ep Hpa in 1035,
and a relation of the race of Tai F6ng of Y6n L6n [vide suprn) was placed
on the throne in that year. He was called Hktin Kawt Hpa and signalized
the change in the accession by establisliing a new capital, called Cheila
(the modern S& Lan), on the left bank of the Shweli and immediately op-
posite ' Ma-kau Mong L6ng.' He is also said to have incorporated Bhaino
with his dominions.
" At this time the dominant power in all these regions was that of the
king of New Pagan, Anawra-hta, and in the history of MOng Mao it is
recorded that Hkun Kawt Hpa's son and successor gave his daughter in
marriage to the Pagan monarch, thus almost inipiying that he acknowledged
him as liege lord, though it is also stated that he never went to the Pagan
court as a true vassal must have done. But, however this may have been
during Aiiawra-hta's lifetimej certainly the succeeding kings of Mao were
entirely independent, and they appear to have reigned in peace and on-
broken succession until the death of (Pam) Yao PAag in A. I). 1210, when
a third influx of Hkun Lu's posterity occurred in the person of Sao (Ai-
mo) Hkam N«--ng, of the race of Hknn Su of Miing Kong Mong Yawng.
And it is remarkable that this new influx took place while Yao Pong's
younger brother was actually in power in the neighbouring State of M6ng
Mit, where he had just previously founded the capital and commenced an
almost independent reign.
*' Sao Hkam Neng reigned for ten years and had two sonSj Sao Hkan
Hpa (the Sookampha of Pemberton) and Sam l>6ng Kycm-moiig, or Sam
L6ng Hpa, the latter perhaps the most remarkable personage in the Mao
history. The first succeeded to the throne oE .Mong Mao at the death of
his father in 1220 A. D., but Sam L6ng Hpa had already five years previ-
ously become Satvbva of Mftng Kawng or Mogaung, where he had es-
tablished a city on the banks of the Nam Kawng, and had laid the foun-
dation of a new line of Sawhvsas, tributary only to the kingvj of Mao. He
apptars to have been essentially a soldier and to have undertaken a series
of campaigns under his brother's direction, or perhaps as Commander-in-
Chief of his army (this is the position given hira in the Hsen Wi Chronicle).
The first of these campaigns began by an expedition into Mithila, when he
conquered Mong Ti (Nan Tien), Momien iT^ng-Yiieh), and Wan Chang
(Yung-chang), and from thence extended his operations towards the south,
Kong Ma, Mong Mting, Keng Hung (Chclij, Keng Tung, and other smaller
States, each in turn falling under the Mao yoke. With Hsen Wi an amic-
able arrangement was come to, in virtue of which the Sawdwa of that State
became so far a vassal as to engage to send a princess periodically to the
harem of the Mao king.
" Immediately on Sam L6ng Hpa's return to Mong Mao he was ordered
away on a second expedition to the west, and on this occasion crossed the
Cbindwia river and overran a great portion of Arakan, laying the capital
222
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
in ruins and establishing his brother's supremacy in a number of towns on
and beyond the right bank of the Chtndwtn.
'*A third expedition was then undertaken to Manipur with similar suc-
cess to the two last, and ai;ain a fourth to Upper Assam, where he con-
2uercd the greater portion of the territory then under the sway of the
'hutya or Sutya kings.
" While on his return frnm this rxpedition Sao Hkan Hpa, being jealous
or fearful of his brother's influence, decided to put him to death, and with
this end in view left his capital on the Shweli and proceeded to meet him
at Mong Pel Hkam on the Taping river (which Elias identities with
Mentha near Old Hhamo]. A great ovation was given to the successful
general, but after the lapse of some time, according to the most trust-
worthy account, liis brother succeeded in poisoning him, or, according to
another account, he failed in the attempt, and San Long Hpa made good
his escape to China.
" This was probably the period of greatest extension reached by the
Mao Kingdom, and certainly, if their own account be accepted, their
country now formed a very respectable dominion. The following is the list
fiven by the Shan hisloriaus of the States under the sovereignty of the
lao Kings immediately subsequent to Sam Long Hpa's conquests, but a
mere glance at the name of some of them, such as Arakaii, Tali, &c., will
show it to be greatly exaggerated, though it is possible that at one time or
another some portion of all the places named may have fallen under their
power :— -
(i) M5Dg Mit, comprising seven mongs, namely, Bhamo, MoUi,
(this suggests the Mol6 river, or it may be Mdng Lai), Mong
L6ng, Ong Pawng llsipaw [these are the same place), Hsum
Hsai, Sung-ko (Singu), fagaung.
Mong Kawng or NIogaung, comprising ninety-nine Mdngs,
among which the following were the most important,— Mdng
L6ng (Assam), Kahse (Manipur). part of Arakan, the Yaw
country, Kale, Hsawng Hsup, Mong Kong M5ng Yawng;
MQng Kawn (in the Hukawng valley), Singkaling Hkamti,
M5ng Li (Hkamli Long), Mong Yang (Mohnyin), M6t Sho
Bo (Shwebo), Kunung-Kumun (the Mishmi country), Hkang
S6 (the Naga country), &c.
Hsen Wi comprising forty-nine mongs.
(4} Miing Nai.
(5) Kfing Ma.
(6) Keng Hsen, the present Siamese province of Chicng Hsen on
the AU-kbong.
(7) Lan Sang (the Burmese Linzin). This is no doubt the princi-
pal ity which had at different periods Wing Chan (Viengchan) and
Luang Prabang for its capital : the Chinese Lan-tsiang.
Pagan.
YAn (Chiengmai and neighbouring States).
(10) Keng Lfing, probably Keng Hung, the XII Panna, called by the
Chinese Ch'fih.
(11) Keng Lawng, said to be the country north of Ayuthia, where
there are many ruined capitals.
(3]
(3)
(8)
(9)
CHAP, VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
333
(12) Mdng Lem.
(13) Tai Lai, possibly Ta-H Fu.
(141 Wan Chang (Yung-cbang).
(15) The Palaunjj country Tawng Peng Loi Ldng.
(lO) Sang-Iipo (the Kachin country).
(r;) The Karen country.
(18) Lawaik.
(19) Lapyit.
(20) Lamu, which are not easily to be identified.
(21) Lahkeng (Arakan, meaning probably that portion not under
Mong Kawng, Mogaung).
(22) Lang-sap (?).
(23) Ayuthia (Siam).
{24) Htawc (Tavoy).
■ {25) Yunsaleng.
[This may be compared with the list in the Hsen Wi Chronicle, where
the claims are even more extensive].
" During the two reigns following that of Sao Hkan Hpa, the capital of
Mong Mao remained ai Sfe Lan, or at the opposite town of * Ma-kau Mung
Lung' {vide suf>ra), hut \n i285one Sao Wak Hpa became king and, though
apparently of unbroken lineal descent, a new capital was founded called
simply by the name of the country Mong Mao and situated, so far as can
be ascertained, on the site of the present town of MOng Mao — certainly
this is the last chang»". of capital recorded.
" Sao Wak Hpa died after a reign of thirty years in 131 5, and for nine
years subsequently the throne of MOng Mao was vacant. Eventually, how-
ever, a natural son named Ai Puk was elected to fill it, but he proved pro-
fligate and incompetent to discharge the duties of a ruler, and after six
years was deposed by the mintsterb, when a second period of nine years
eusued, during which no king could be found to assume the direction of
aJTairs. (The Hscn Wi Chronicle covers thr same ground and gives a clearer
idea of the transitory nature of the hegemony of any single Shan State.)
"Eventually in 1339 a relative of Sao Wak Hpa named Sao Ki Hpa,
otherwise known as Tai r*6ng (there is almost certainly some confusion
here, which cannot be unravelled since Eiias does not discriminate Bur-
mese details from Stian, or manuscript information from that obtained by
word of mouth) was crowned, and with him an era of wars with China ap-
pears to have commenced, which was destined finally to end in the fall of the
Mao Kings as independent sovereigns (the Chinese had now consolidated
their power in Ta-H and were pressing westwards).
"The first record of Chinese invasion is an unimportant one and merely
states that in the fifth year of Sao Ki Hpa's reign {Pok Hsa-nga 55 = 705
B. E. = 1343A. D.) au army arrived in Mao territory from Mithila for the
purpose of reconuoitring, but that no fighting ensued. The next occasion
was just fifty years subsequently, during the reign of Sao Ki Hpa's son Tai
Long, when a Chinese force appeared and attempted the conquest of the
country ; it was defeated, however, by the Sbaus and returued after suffer-
ing great losses.
" Tai LAng, after a reign of fifty yea.rs, was succeeded by his son Sao Tit
Hpa, or Tao Loi^ as be was also called^ who appears to have carried od
224
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
certain negotiations with the Chinese during the early part of his reign, and
in the sixteeuth year of it {Hai-yi 3 = 773B. E. = 141 1 A. D.) to have
gone on a visit to the fiovernor of Yunnan. The Shan history indeed
chronicles that he went to Mong Hke, the capita) of Mithila, to consult with
the Emperor and that during au interview with the latter, Jn which he was
accompanied by his son Sao Xgan Hpa, he was given a cup of spirit to
drink, which so completely intoxicated him that the Emperor, at the insti-
gation of a minister named Maw Pi, obtained from him the royal seal and
thus rendered his country tributary. (The capital referred to was no doubt
yiinnan-SFn and the \V6ng Ti. the Governor*General of che Province, not
the Emperor, who then lived in Nan-King.) in Piik-hsi ^,ot two ye.irs
after this event. S-io Tit Hpa returned to Mong Mao, and in the next year
a party of 130 mules came down from China. Each mule was loaded with
silver cut into small pieces, and on arriving in the neighbourhood of the
capital, those in charge led them into the bamboo jungle that surrounded
the city, and scattered the silver among the trues. The party then return-
ed to China, and the inhabitants of Mciag Mao cut down the jungle 10 order
to find the silver. The sequel of this story is not given, but the inference
is that the ruse was practised by the Chinese to clear the environs of the
city of the jungle in order to attack it tlie more easily.
" In the following year Sao Tit Hpa died and was succeeded by his son
Sao Ngan Hpa, the events attending the latter part of whose reign are well
known from Burmese history. He bad two brothers named Sao Hsi Hpa
and Sao Hung Hpa, with whose assistance he invaded and subdued the
Shan States to the cast aud south-east of his country and then marched on
to Tai Lai, which State he also conquered. Here he was reinforced by
the armies of all the Chiefs he had subdued so far and decided with this
enormous host [it was tallied by each man dropping ono. ywe seed {Abrus
precatorius) into a basket and four baskets full were gathered up] to at-
tempt the conquest of Mithila. He started accojdingly from Tai Lai, but
was met by a Chinese force under the walls of the capital, MongSfe (Yunnan-
sen), and was defeated; he then fell back first on Tai Lai, afterwards on
Wan-Chang (Yung-chan^), aud eventually retired into Mao territory, fol-
lowed by the inhabitants of all the places he had subdued, who preferred
to cast in their lot with his, rather than endure the vengeance of the
Cbineae. Ou arriving near his capital, he found the inhabitants panic-
stricken and flying to Ayuthia and in many other directions; his army
broke up and joined in the flight, wliilst he himself, accompanied by his
brother Sao Hsi Hpa (Sao Hiing Hpa had died just previously) sought
an asylum at Ava. 'J'he Chinese tollowcd, however, took up a position
north of the city of Ava, and demanded the surrender of Sao Ngan Hpa from
the Burmese King. The latter replied that one of his nobles called Min
Ngfe Kyaw Dwin was in rebellion at Yamfithin and thai, if the Chinese
commander would first subdue aud bring this rebellious noble to the capital,
he would deliver to him the Mao King. The Chinese general consented
and despatched a portion of his army to Yamelhiti. 'I he place was sur-
rounded and Min Ngfi Kyaw Du-in captured and brought into Ava, but on
hearing of his arrival Sao Ngan Hpa, finding his end inevitable, took poi-
son and died. His body nevertheless was given up to the Chinese Com-
mander, who had it disembowelled and dried in the sun, and immediately
afterwards returned with it to Yunnan (B. E. 807 = 1445 A. D.). [This story
is discussed later id the tight of Mr. Parker's Chinese researches.]
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI,
aaS
" Sao Hsi Hpa was then placed on the throne of Miing Kawng and Sao
Ngan Hpa's qneen went at the same time tn Hkamti with her two child-
ren, Sao Hung aged ten and Sao Hup aged two. On arriva! there a third,
named Sao Put, was born, and one of these three became Saicbwa of Hkara-
ti.
"For three years after Sao Ngan Hpa's death Mong Mao was again
without a king, but at the end of that time an uncle, or the descendant of
an uncle of Sao VVak Hpa, called Sao Lam KAn Hkani Hpa, and nearest
remaining relative to Sao Ngan Hpa, was placed on the throne [Hai-saii
40=1448). In the fourth year of his reign a large force from China in-
vaded his country, defeated his troopn* and compelled him to take flight or
seek a refuge with the Burmese at Ava. After five years of exile he re-
turned to his country and died in Hai-kii 53 = 1461 A. D. He was suc-
ceeded ID the same year by his son Sao H6ni Hpa, who was assailed almost
immediately on his accession by a Chinese army of great strength, which,
however, he defeated and drove back within the border of their country
after 18 days of continued fighting. But al a later period of his reign
(about 1479 '^' ^■) 'he Chinese returned and this time routed the Mao
Shans, and Sao Horn Hpa, like his predecessor, fled to Ava for protection.
After four years he returned to his capital and seven years later died there.
His death, however, did not terminate the wars with China, for in the sixth
year of the reign of his son and successor Sao Ka Hpa (1495 A. D.) the
enemy again came down in force and invaded the Mao territory. Some
fighting occurred, of which no particulars are given further than that it
proved adverse to the Shans, though not absolutely disastrous, but still
sufficiently humiliating to the pride of Sao Ka Hpa to cause him to abdi-
cate and make over the government to his son Sao Pem Hpa, while he
himself retired to Ai Hkam, the northern division of Hkamti, and after-
wards to Mogaung, of which State he became Sawbwa.
•' Sao Pem Hpa appears to have been permitted by the Chinese to re-
main in peace for 20 ycars^ when a force from Yunnan under a general
named Li Sang Pa attempted an invasion of the country, but was repulsed.
Li Sang Pa (the name cannot be traced in Mr. Parker's translations), how-
ever, retired only to a short distance within his own border, and shortly
afterwards conceived the idea of taking Mong Mao by means of a ruse.
He constructed a number of rafts, placed a goat on each, and set them
floating down the Shweli ; the Shans, on seeing the goats approaching from
the side of China, exclaimed iike Pot Pe Afa^ ' the Chinese arc sending
goats down, ' a cry that quickly spread through the town as * the Chinese
are coming floating down ' and caused a general panic. The citizens, to-
gether with the army, fled in all directions and Sao Pem Hpa, who was ill
at the time and unable to move, died as the enemy entered his city.
"The causes of these wars are never mentconed, and it is almost impos-
sible to believe that the Chinese were always the aggressors, unless some
provocation had been previously given by the Shans. Still the next and
last two Chinese wars are described by the Shan chroniclers to be, like
all the previous ones, purely unprovoked movements on the part of the
enemy. Before these took place, however, the Maos were destined to ex-
perience what 1 believe was their first and only war with the Burmese.'*
[Elias thinks that the previous wars with the Burmese did not extend
39
226
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VL
beyond Mong Yang and Mong Kawng — Mohnyin and )l<^&nng, which,
however, outlasted the Eastern 5han States.]
•'SaoPpin Hpa was followed in 1516 by his son Sao Horn HpA, who reigned
for the extraordinary period of 88 years and administered his country so
successfully that it enjoyed a state of prosperity it bad never before at-
tained. Whether it was that this contUtion of pmsperity excited the cu-
pidity of the Peg-u King, or w helher he attacked Mdnc; Mao in the course of
a general plan of conquest of the Shan States, it is inipossiblc to say. bat
probably some cause oiherthan that assigned by the Burmese chroniclers
IS to be looked for. These pretend that shortly before 1560 the Maos had
seized some villages within the borders of Mong .Mit, and that the Savhwa
of the latter place bad appealed to the Burmese for aid, but as MOng Mit
bad up to within a year or two of this time been a part of the dominion of
the Mao KiDgii, and the Burmese had been steadily advancing their con-
quest of the Shan States from south to north, it is scarcely necessary to
look for any special cause for quarrel. In any case, during the year
9J4 B. E. = l56i A. 0., the King of Pegu is reported to have sent an
army to Mdog Mao, numbering two hundred thousand men, under the
command of his son, the heir- apparent, and three of his younger brotlicrs,
rulers respectively of l^rome. Toungoo, and Ava. They appear to have
commenced the campaign with an incursion into the Northern Saahva-
ships and to have burned Santa, M5ng La, and other neighbouring towns,
and afterwards to have descended on the capital, where alter Utile or no
fighting they compelled Sao H6m Hpa to acknowledge himself a vassal
of tiie Pegu King, and to send him a princess in t^ken of homage. When
the Burmese army retired the city was spared, and teachers of Buddhism
were left there to in.struct the Shan priests in ihe worship of Gaudama
and to convert the rulers and people.
"Some twenty years after these events (namely, in i/tf«£/^ww'* 34=944
B. £.= 1582 A. D.) and apparently during a time of peace between
Chl<-a and Burma, the Maos were again attacked by a Chinese army num-
bered, in the usual inflated style, at three hundred thousand men. Three
great battles were fought, none of which were decided in favour of either
party, but eventually the Chinese sued for p< ace, and, when this was ac-
corded by Sao H6m Hpa. their army retired to Yiinnan. Aiiolhef twenty
years of tranquillity ihen ensued, but in Kai Mao i'*> = g66 B. £.= 1604
A. D. a Chinese general name Wang Sang-su with a considerable force
made a descent on the borders of Mong Mao. and Sao H6m Hpa being
old and feeble decided to make over the government of his country
to his son Sao Borgng. then the reigning Sawbwa of Hsen VVi. He had
scarcely done so when he died, and at the same time the Chinese army
commented its march on the capital. The Shaiis appear to have made but
a feeble resistance, if indeed any at all, for Sao Boreng, a few days after
his accession to the throne, abdicated and Red, on the Chinese being rc-
purted to have arrived at the crossing of a certain tributary of the Shweli,
a few miles above the capital. He made for Mogaung with a party of
Chinese pursuing him, and reached Kat Kyo Wing Maw, on the left bank
of the Nam Kio (the Irrawaddy), where his followers mutinied, and in
despair he drowned himself in the river. The Kat Kyo Wing Maw Paw
Mvtig recovered his body and buried it, subdued the mutinous followers,
and sent them to Ava, where they petitioned the king to grant the
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
aa^
Hsen
etc.
Wi Chroiii-
gramlson and oniy remaining descendant of Sao H6m Hpo a territory to
reign over, as Mung M;io was now in llie permanent occupation of the
Chinese. Tliia prince was called Sao Tit Hpa and he was relegated to
Mogaung, where a certain line of Sawdwas had just then btcomc ex-
tinct."
With this summary by Mr. Ney Ellas may be compared the follow-
ing history of Hsen Wi now first translated. It is pieced together
from two manuscripts, one furnished by the Northern Hsen Wi
State, the other by the Southern, a division which dates from the
British occupation. Both chronicles are modem compilations.
The chronological history of the ancient governors (Mahathama-
da Min) of the Shan States from the beginning of
the four cycles of time when fire, water, and wind
separated and formed the earth and the four
Dais] from the coming into existence of this world called Badda ;
from the commencement of the reign of Hkun Lu and Hkun La
(called in Mr. Elias' history Kun Lai) to the present day.
In former days the golden town of Hsen-sfe Man-sfe Mfe-mong,
mother of countries, had no fifovernors and was administered by
four Pare Mongs or elders. These were —
Htao-Mong Htao-Ltk of Ho-tu
Htao-Mong Htao-kang of Mong Ton
Htao-Mong Htao-Kang-Hawp of Hsen-sfe
Htao-Mong Htao-Kang-Hawp of Htu-mo.
These elders ruled over the country in harmony with one another
and laid the foundations of the history of the Shan States.
The Hsen Wi Hsi-hso^ Hsen Wi Hso-pa-tu, Hsu-an-hpu, Hs6-
an-wu, Hso-mo (That is to say, the " Four Tiger country." What
difference there is between Pa-tu, An-hpu, An-wu, and Mo tigers
is a refinement which appears to have been now lost.), Kawsampi,
the country of white blossoms, may be briefly described as follows.
The country of while blossoms and large leaves was the name
given to Mong Kawsampi, the country which lies near the golden
Hpaw-di (the Ficus religiosa) in the Myltsima country, where the
Buddha was bom.
In Mong Kawsampi there lived a queen named Ekka-Mahehsi
Dewi, who was great with child, and one day she lay wrapped in a
red shawl in the sunshine on the terrace of the palace. There a
monstrous bird, the Tilanka, saw her and took the red shawl for a
piece of raw flesh. He stooped down and carried her off beyond the
reach of mortals into the depths of the Hema Wunta, the centre of
the 3,000 forests. There he settled on a great Mai Nyu tree and
would have devoured her, but the Dewi cried aloud and the Tilan-
338
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
ka was afraid and flew au-ay. The queen was then delivered of a
male child on the tree and ihe cries of (he infant attracted the at-
tention of a Rafhi, a holy man who lived in the wilds and was at
the lime repealing his doxologies. He came to the tree ; the
queen told how she had been carried of from Mong Kawsampi and
he made a ladder for her and helped her down and she and the child
went and lived with him in his retreat.
When the boy was 1 4 or 15 years of age the Thagyas came down
from the skies and presented nim with a harp, whose strains sub-
dued all the elephants of the forests, and the boy was then known
by the name of Hkun HsCng U Ting from the word ting a harp.
Then Hkun HsOng U Ting gathered together all the elephants
of the forests ^vith the sounds of his harp and marched to the
country ol Kawsampi. There he found that his father, the king,
was dead, and he succeeded him on the throne and went back to
the place where his mother was, and there he built a city called U
Ting, afterwards known as Mong Ting, on the spot where the Tka-
gyas gave him the harp. The spot where the queen had lain in
the sun and had felt the wind raised by the wings of the Tiianka
was called Mong Mao from the word moo (to be dizzy), and it re-
tains that name to the present day, and the country of the 3,000
forests, the Hema Wunta, was known from the time of the ancient
monarchs as Hsen Wi Hsi-hs6, the Hso-pa-tu, the Hs6-an-wu,
the Hso-an-hpu, the Hs6-mo, also called the country of white
blossoms, the province of Siri-wilata Maha Kambawsa Scngni Kaw-
sampi, even to the present day.
In the year 1274 after Buddha's nirvana, corresponding to 92
B. E. (A. D. 730), there lived in Man S6, a country near Mong Mao,
an aged couple on the banks of a lake called Nawng Put, They
had a son named Hkun Ai, who used to go out diuly with the
others to guard the cattle as they grazed near the Nawng Put lake
to the north of the town of Man S^. Hkun Ai was 16 years of
age, and one day a Naga Princess came to him in the shape of a
human being and entered into conversation with him. The conv«--
sation ended in love and they went together to the country of the
naga dragons. The princess made Hkun Ai stay outside the town
till she had explained the situation to her father, the King of the
Dragons. In consideration of his son-in-law's feelings, the king
ordered all the nagas to assume human form and the princess and
her husband then lived very happily together in the palace which
the Dragon King assigned to them. In eight or nine months' time,
however, came the annual water festival of the nagas and the
king bade his daughter tell Hkun Ai that the naga must then as-
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
229
sume their kraken form and disport themselves in the lakes of the
country. She told her husband to stay at home during the festi-
val days and she hfrsoU went and joined the rest of the itagas in
their festive gambols. Hkun Ai climbed on to the roof of the pa-
lace and was disconiposnd to find the whole of the country and the
lakes round filled with hu^e sportive riaga dragons. In the even-
ing they all assumed human form and went home again. The
princess found Hkun Ai very downcast when she came back and
abruptly asked him what was the matter with him. He replied
that he was home-sick and wanted to see his old father and mother
again. Accordingly they went back to the country of men and
arrived at the Kawng Put lake. There the A^aga Princess told him
she would lay an egg from which a child would be hatched,
and this he was to feed with the milk which would ooze from his
little finger whenever he thougl^t of her. If ever he or the child
were in danger, he was to strike the ground three times with his
hand and she would come to his aid. Then she laid the egg and
went home to the country of the nagas. Hkun Ai covered over
the egg with hay and dead leaves on the brink of the Nawng Put
lake and then went home to his parents, to whom he related all his
adventures, but told them nothing about the egg, of which he was
very much ashamed. They were in great joy at his return, but
they noticed that every day after his meals he went away to the
lake. So one day they followed him secretly and found him nurs-
ing a child in his lap on the brink of the lake. Then he told them
that this was his son by the naga Princess and how he had hatch-
ed the egg under dry leaves (fiing). So they called the child
Hkun Tung Hkam and took him home with them and brought him
up. From the day when the child entered their house they throve
and prospered and they became great people in Man Sh,
When Hkun Tiing Hkam was 15 or i6^ears old, Sao Wong-Ti
was King of Meiktila [Mithila is the classical name for Mong Ch6,
which to the Shan means rather Yunnan than the whole of China.
The Meiktila here referred to, notwithstanding the title Sao WOng-
Ti (Hwang-ti, the Emperor of China), is evidently Yunnan-sen and
not either Peking or the Meiktila of Upper Burma], and he had a
daughter, the Princess Pappawadi, of 14 or 15 years of age, who
was very famous for her beauty. There were so many suitors for
her hand from all the countries of the earth that the king had a
golden palace built for her in the middle of the lake near the town
and hung up in it a gong. He then announced that whoever get to
the palace dry-shod without the use of bridges, boats, or rafts and
struck the signal gong should have the princess to wife. Hkun
Tiing Hkam heard the news and marched from Mong Mao with a
3^0
THE UPPKR BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI.
large following. He found the lake surrounded with the camps of
kings and princes who had come to sue for Princess Pappawadi and
were holding jjjreat revelry, but had not devised means of gelling lo
the golden palace Hkun J iing Hkam went to the edge of the lake
in the evening and. struck ihe ground three times with his hand.
His mother, the naga Princess, appeared and made a bridge across
the lake with her body, over which he walked and appeared before
the princess Pappawadi. She was greatly struck with his bearing
and they immediately fell in love nith one another and struck the
signal gong. Sao Wcng-Ti had ihem brought to his own palace
and there asked Hkun Tung Hkam who he was and whence he
came. When he was told that the mother of the suitor was a
daughter of the King of nagas and his father a descendant of the
ruling house of Hsen VVi Kawsampi, the countr\- of white blossoms,
he was much gratified and the marriage ceremony was carried out
immediately.
Then Sao Wong-Ti, with all his ministers, marched back with
the newly married couple and built a great palace for them to live in
in Mong Mao, and the town where the palace was built was called
Tiing Hkaw. In the year 125 B. E. (763 A. D.) Hkun Tung Hkaoi
and the Princess Pappawadi became governors of the country and
they had a son named Hkun Lu, who was elected king (Thamada
Min) upon the death of his father, Hkun Tung Kham, in the year
197B. E., after a reign of 72 years. Hkun Lu reigned 80 years and
was succeeded by his son Hkun Lai as Thamada Min in the year
»77B. E. (915A. D.). Hkun Lai reigned for 36 years and died at the
age of 87 in the year 313B. E. (951 A. D.).
The name Hsen \Vi is derived from w«, the bunches of plantains
grown in the garden of the two aged cultivators of Man Se near
the Nawng Put, the parents of Tiing Hkam, and has been in use
ever since in the form Hsen VVi Hsi Hs6, Hsen Wi Hs6-an-wu, Hs6-
an-hpu, Hsopatu, Hsomo, Kawsampi, the country of white blossoms
in the province of .Siriwilaia Maha Kambawsa SCngni Kawsampi
After the death of Hkun Lai the country was left without a ruler
for five or six years and all the eight Slian Slates agreed to be
bound and governed by the decisions of the ciders of the ruling
family who remained. These were the four iltao-rn'Ongs : Hiao*
mijng Htao Lek of Ho Tu, who was elder brother of I/tao-mdng
Htao-kang of Mong Ton and Hiao-mong Kang-hawp of Hsen Sfe,
who was uncie-of Iltao-inong Kang-hawp of Wing Tu.
To these four the people rendered their homage with presents of
gold and silver and other precious articles every two or three years.
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAl. 231
The names of these eight Shan States under the four HtaO'
mongs were :—
On the East,
Mong Mao.
MOng Na.
Mong Hon.
Mong Hkattra Sfe Hpang.
On the West.
Mong Leng. I
Mong Kiing Kwai.
Mung Kawng. I
Mong Wan.
Miing Ti.
Mong Yang.
Mong Kawn.
Mong Yantare.
Lam pal am.
Man Maw-
On the South,
Mong Hsi Paw.
Lai Hka.
Keng Hkam.
Mawk Mai.
Mong Pawn,
Yawng Hwe.
Sam Ka.
Mong Kung.
KSng Tawng.
Mong Nai.
Mong Sit.
Nawng VVawn.
Hsi Kip.
Mong Pai,
On the North.
Mong Ting. Kiing Ma.
Mong Ching. Mong Mcing.
Mong Leni. Mong Him.
Mong Lon.
All these States rendered homage to the four Htaomdngs.
In the time of the first Maha Thamadamins, Hkun Lu and Hkun
Lai, ihe boundaries extended to Mong La, Mong Hi, and Mong
Ham on the banks of the Mfekhong. There was there a chief
named Hkun Lu Hkam, who had many sons who governed under
him in the province of Keng Mai.
The four Htao-ynongs found the burden of affairs very great and
therefore, on the eighth waning of the fourth month (March), in
the year 316 B.E. (954 A.D.), they went, with representatives of the
people, to the Chief of Mong Hi and Mong Ham, on the frontier
of Mong La In the province of Keng Mai, on the banks of the
Mfekhong, with presents of twenty-one viss of silver and three viss
of gold and other valuable articles, to ask Hkun Lu Hkam to give
them his sons for their governors. The Chief consented and gave
his five sons, Hkun Tai Hkam, Ai Hawm, Hkun Hkam Sen, Tao
Hkun Wen, and Hkun Hkam Haen, together with eight others of
different parents, Hkun Hkam Pawng Hpa, Hkun Hsfing Pawng,
332
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VL
Hkun Tao Hseng Hkara, Hkun Tao Ao Kwa, Hkun Tao Nga Rung,
Hkun lIpaWunTon, Ilkun Tao Lu Lo, and Hkun Pan Hso L6ng,
all of them descendants gf the house of Hkun Lu and Hkun Lai,
to go with the Htao-mongs and to be rulers over the Cis-Salween
States. Accordingly they all returned together and arrived at Mong
Tu in Hsen Wi on the day of the full moon of the seventh month
(June) of 317 B.E. (955A.D.).
In the following year the four Hiao-mongs summoned all the
people together to receive their respective rulers and then they and
Sao Hkun Tai Hkam appointed them as follows : —
Hkun Tao Ao Kwa was appointed Sa-wbwa of Mong Nai,
Keng Hkam, Keng Tawng, and Mawkmai, as far as the
Siamese borders.
Hkun Tao Hseng Hkam was appointed Sawbwa of Yawng
HwCj Mong Pawn, Hsi Hkip, Hsa Tflng, Maw La
Myeng, Nawng VVawn, Lai Sak Sam Ka, Van Kung,
and Miing Pai.
Hkun Tao Nga Rung received Miing Mao, Mong Na, Sfe
Hpang, Mong Wan, Mong Ti, Mong Hko, and Mong
Kawn.
Hkun Hpa Wun TOn received Mijng Ting, Miing Ching,
Kiing Ma, and Miing Mong.
Hkun Tao Lu Li> received Mong Ham, Mong Yawng, and
Mong Hkattra.
Hkun Pawng Hpa received Wing Hso.
Hkun Hseng Pawng received Mong Kun Kwoi and Lam-
palam.
Hkun Pan Psii Long received Mong Kut, Mong L6ng, and
Hsum Hsai.
Hkun Hkam Hsen received Keng Lao, Man Maw, Keng
Leng, Mong Yang, and Miing Kawng.
Tao Hkun Wen became Sawhwa of Mong Yuk, Mong Yin,
Miing Maw, Mong Tai, and Miing Ham.
In the year 319 BE. (957 A.D.) Sao Hkun Mai Hkam appoint-
ed his son Hkun Ai Hawm to be the governor of Mong Tu, with
his headquarters in Hsen Wi town, and in the same year Sao Hkun
Tai Hkam and his son Sao Hkun Hkam Hsen Hpa proceeded to
establish the city of Hsnn Sii, which was lo be the capitalof all the
Shan States, where State affairs were to be settled.
The newly appointed chiefs then left Hsen Wi Hsi-hso, Hsen
W'i Hs6-an-wu, Hso-an-pu, Hs6-pa-tu, Hsii-mo, the country of white
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
233
blossoms, in the province of Siriwilata Maha Kambawsa Kawsampi
and went to their respective States, where they built towns and
palaces.
Mong Sang,
Mong Lon,
Mong Mong,
Mong Kiing,
Lai Hka,
Mong Hsi Paw,
Mong Hko,
Mong Lao,
Lawk Sawk,
Mong Nawng,
Mong Peng,
Mong Hsu,
Mong Hu, and
Mong Pat
were declared to be under the direct control of Sao Hkun Tai
Hkain of Hscn Se.
Man Sfe Mfemong,
Mong Yaw,
Mong Htara,
Mong Ya,
Mong Hka,
Ko Kang,
Mong Paw,
Mong Lawng
Mong Ko,
Mong Wan,
Mong Kek,
Mong Si,
were placed under the direct control of Hkun Ai Hawm of Mong
Tu in Hsen Wi.
Mong Yuk, Mong Tat, Mong Mao, and Mong Noi were placed
under the direct control of Tao Hkun Wen of Wing Nan Mong Yin.
Tao Hkun Wen of Mong Yin had a son nanied Hkun Tao Pa
Pawng and Hkun Tao Pa Pawng had a son named Hkun Tai Pawng.
Hkun Tao Pa Pawng died during the reign of his father.
The history of Mong Mir, Keng Lao, is as follows: — The Saw
bwa Hkun Hkam Hken Hpa had three sons Ta Ka, Hkun Yi Awng,
and Hkun Sam Hso. Hkun Hkam Hken Hpa appointed the middle
son to be governor of Mong Yang (Mohnyin), Mong Kawng {Mo-
gaung), and Man Maw (Bhamo).
Hkun Hkam Pawng Hpa of Kare Wing Hso died without issue
and consequently his ministers applied to Sao Hkun Tai Hkam of
HsenSfefora ruler and Hkun Sam Hso, the youngest son of Sao
Hkun Hkam Hken Hpa, was appointed.
Hkun Sam Hso also died, but left a son Hkun Ting, who suc-
ceeded him.
In the year 429 B.E. (1068 A.D.) "Hkun Hkam Hken Hpa of
Mong Mit and Keng Lao died and his eldest son Sao Hkun Ta Ra
succeeded him as Sa-wbwa and in the following year removed his
capital from Keng-lao to Sung Ko (Singu). He had a son, Hkun
Kom, who succeeded him on his death in 547 B.E. (1185A.D.).
Hkun Kom had one hundred wives, but none of them bore him a
child. He therefore ordered them to pray (.0 the naisior the gift of
a son. One night a ?iat appeared to him and told him to hold pm^s
for seven days and seven nights on the banks of the Nam Kiu (the
Irrawaddy) with all his wives and all his people. Gold dust would
30
234
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
come floating down the river and, if one of the queens swallowed this,
she would bear a son. Hkun K6m told his dream and made
arrangements for the holding of the seven days feast. But a very
violent storm burst and the river rose in flood and Hkun Kom and
his queens returned to the town without seeing any £;old dust. One
queen with a few attendants remained behind and kept a careful
watch. Her servants found a strange fruit floating on the river and
she ate it and went back to the palace. In a few months time she
was delivered of a child, but the other queens were jealous and
dropped the baby over the palace wall and told the mother that it
was still-born. The baby did not die of the fall, so the queens had
it placed In the middle of the road where the cattle were daily
driven past. Next day when the cattle were lei out, a large spotted
cow protected the child, took it up in her mouth, and carried it with
her to the grazing-ground, where she fed it with her own milk and
look it back with her every night to the cattle-pen. This went on
for eighteen months and then the queens discovered that the child
was not dead, but went to the fields every day and when any man
came near, hid itself in the mouth of a large spotted cow. They
therefore resolved to have all the spotted cows in the country kill-
ed and persuaded the doctors to tell the Sa^vbwa that it was neces-
sary to sacrifice them to the nats, in order that he might have a son.
The spotted cows were all slaughtered, but the protector of the
little prince had handed him over to the care of a cow buffalo, with
whom he now stayed. When the queens heard this they determined
to kill all the cow-buffaloes, but the one who watched over the
prince fled to Kare Wong Hs6 and joined the herd that belonged
to the Princess I Pawm, the daughter of the Sa-mbwa of Kare Wong
Hso. The princess heard of it, questioned the boy, and was told
everything. She went and told her father, .Sao Hkun Ting, who
said that the Sawbtoa of Sung Ko (Singu) was of the true line of
the Maha Thamadamin and that therefore, since the little prince
had come riding on a buffalo, he must be called Hkun Yi Kwai
Hkam and must come and stay in the Ha-so with him.
The news soon came to the ears of Sao Hkun K6m of Sung Ko
and he sent his ministers to bring back his son, whom he received
with great delight and acknowledged as his heir. Soon after the
Golden Buffalo Prince married the I^incess 1 Pawm and the Thagyas
came down from the skies and presented him with a double-edged
sword.
Tales about the prince spread abroad and reached the ears of
Sao W6ng-ti {^Htvang-ti is the title of the Emperor of China, as
used in Treaties and in reference to deceased sovereigns, like the
Latin /?«?«5), who sent an Embassy to invite him to the Gem Palace
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
335
in China. Therefore the prince went there with a great retinue in
the year 663B.E. (1302A.D.). The Emperor received HkunYiKwai
Hkani with great honour and proposed that he should go as an
emissary to Hsihapadi, the King 01 Pukam Pawk Kan (Pagan), to
demand the payment of the tribute of four elephants, eight viss of
gold, and eighty %'iss of silver which had been paid by his ancestors
every three years or every nine years. One hundred Chinese there-
fore accompanied Hkun Yi Kwai Hkam on his return. Fifty of
these stayed with him in Sung Ko and fifty went on to King Hsiha-
padi of Pukam Pawk Kan. The King of Pagan refused to pay the
tribute, put forty of the Chinamen to death, and sent back the re-
maining ten to tell the Sao W6ng-ti that he was prepared for war.
Upon this the Emperor of China sent an army and asked for sup-
port from Sung Ko under the command of Hkun Yi Kwai Hkam.
Contingents came from S^ Hpang, Mong Hko, Mong Hkam, Mong
Yang, Mijng Na, Santa, MongTi, and Mong Wan, and all the other
Shan States under the chief Sawhwa, Sao Tai POng, and placed
themselves under the leadership of Hkun Yi Kwai Hkam. It was
in 639 B.E. (1277 A.D.; there is a mistake of twenty-one years)
that Sao W6ng-ti declared war against Hsihapadi, King of Pu Kam
Pawk Kan. The Chinese forces with the Shan army invaded Pagan
and drove the King and his son Hsiri Kyawzwa to Pyama Mong
Myen. {Ser Marco Polo's Kingdom of Mien. Male was the place,
according to the Burmese histories.) This was in the year 641 B.E.
(1279 A.D.) and in thefoUowing year Hkun Yi Kwai Hkam carried
the head of Hsiri Kyawzwa to the Chinese Emperor, and the troops
returned to their own country.
In those days Sao Tai P6ng governed the whole of the Shan
States except Mong MJt, Mong Yang (Mohnyin)j Kare Wong Hs6,
Mong Kiing Kwai Lam, Mong Kawng (Mogaung), and Man Maw
(Bhamo), which were independent of him and were governed by
Sao Hkun Kdm of Sung Ko.
In the year 318 B.E. Sao Tao Nga Run left Hsen Wi and began
to develope Mong Nam and Mong No and lived in the town of
Wing M6n of Mong Mao as the Sawbtva of these States. Sao
Nga Run had a son named Hkun Tum, who was chosen by the
people as their Sawbwa after the death of his father and subse-
quently took the name of Sao H6m-mong. He had a daughter
named Sao Mon La and a son named Sao Kaw Leng. In the year
419B.E. (1057A.D.) the King Nawrahta Mangsaw of Pagan went
up to Mong Wong in search of the five relics of Buddha, and on his
way back he stayed at Mong Mao and Mong Nan and met the
Sao H6m-ni6ng there and married his daughter Sao M6n La.
aa^
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
The descendants of Sao Hkun Nga Run failed in 457B.E. (1095
A.D.) and Mong Mao was left without a ruler for some time, but
the ministers went to the Saivifp^a, Sao Tai Pong of Hsen Sb, and
asked him to appoint some one. He accordin^^ly sent them his
youngest son, Hkun Hpang Hkam, who left Hsen \Vi in 458B.E-
(1096A.D.) and went to Mong Mao, where he built himself a capital
at the town of Wing Wai. Ir was during his reign that one of the
younger daughters of the Sao Wong-li of the Gem Palace in China
was killed in her own chamber by a huge tiger. The Chinese follow-
ed up the tiger's tracks and sent notices to the Sawhwas of the Shan
country on both banks of the Nam K6ng. The tiger measured
twelve cubits high and travelled so fast that he passed through
three vinngs in the day and seven nidngs in the night. He
crossed the Chinese frontier and came to Mo Kang Hs6 in
Mong Lon territory. The Saivbwa of Mong Lon then ordered the
people of Hsen Lem, Mong Keng, Man Niu, Pang Kwang, Sonmu,
Kang Hsd, M6t Hai, Maw H pa, and Hsai Mong to hang iron
chain traps along the banks of the Nam Kiu (the Irrawaddy ; evi-
dently the Salween is meant). The tiger was thus caught in an
attempt to jump across the river at a place which has ever since
been known as Ta Wut Kiu-hso-wen, from the tiger's leap. The
people took the tiger (in the South Hsenwi Chronicle it is said to
be a white tiger) to the Sawbwa of Samparalit in Mong Lon, and
he sent it across the Nam Kiu to his cousin, the Sawiwa Hkun
Hpang Hkam. They went by way of Man Kat, Mong Pat, Ho
Ya, and Mong Sit and called at Kalo, Man Sh, La Ilseo, Ho Pok,
and Loi Kyu and so arrived at Mong Li (these places are all in
Hsen \Vi, so that the Nam Kong, the Salween, and not the Nam Kiu,
the Irrawaddy, is meant). Hkun Hpang Hkam had heard of the
coming of the tiger and sent his ministers to meet it at Mong Li
and bring it to Wing Wai. Hkun Hpang Hkam took it himself
from his capital to the Sao W6ng-ti, who was greatly pleased and
presented Flkun Hpang Hkam with a State Seal and also with a
Passport Seal, which authorized him to tax all who passed through
his country, and he also conferred on Hkun Hpang Hkam the title
of Governor of Mo Pong Hsfe Pong (this is no doubt the name Mu
Pang by which Hsen Wi is known to the Chinese and an allusion
to the Chinese Seal, which was used by the Sa^i'b-xas of Hsen Wi).
The South Hsen Wi version says that nine Hsat-hte (publicans)
came with the seals and established nine loUs at different places in
Hsen Wi and collected duties, a portion of which were sent to the
Sawbwa of Mang Lon because he caught the tiger. Hkun Hpang
Hkam, on his return from China in47oB.E. (1108 A.D.), moved his
_ capital from Wing Wai to Nani Paw, south of Hpang Hkam in the
PI-ATB VT.
SUA^ SAWBWA Ul CX>aftT DAKS.
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THK TAl.
237
country of Mong Mao, and there he built a large town and made it
the capital of all his Slates (this is no doubt the ruined city of Hpang
Hkam near Si Lan on the Nam Haw). Hkun Hpang Hkam ruled
over Mong Mao, MOng Wan, Mong Na, San Ta, Mong Ti, Mong
Ham^ Si: Hpang, Mong Kwan, Mong Ya, and MOng Hkat-ta-ra.
He had four daughters named Nang Ye Hkam Long, Nang Ye Hkam
Leng, Nang Ye Hseng, and Nang Am Aw, but he was growing old
and he had no son to succeed him. He therefore prayed daily to
the Y6k-ka-so nat that he might have a son. One day he entered
the chamber of his youngest queen, who was so discomposed by
his sudden arrival that his suspicions were aroused. Accordingly
a watch was set on the queen's chambers and one night the guard
announced that the Y6k-ka-so nal was with her. An attempt
was made to capture him, but the h/z/ settled on the palace roof
and told the Sawbioa that he was the spirit of the last Sawbwa, Sao
Hom-mong, and would give Hpang Hkam a son, but only if he
fell down and worshipped him in the shape of the shoe which he
threw down. Instead of worshipping the shoe, Hkun Hpang Hkam
turned the queen out of the palace and she wandered about begging
her food from door to door until one day she gave birth to uiree
sons on the banks of the Nam Paw, at the foot of a hill.
They were named Hkun Ai Ngam Mong, Hkun Yi Kang Hkam,
and Hkun Sam Long. The first of these died in his infancy and,
when the Sawhwa died, Hkun Yi Kang Hkam was too young to
succeed. There was some doubt as to the appointment of a suc-
cessor, but a vision appeared to the Chief Minister in the night and
revealed to him that the second Princess should be chosen, since
her elder sister was betrothed to Sao Wong Kiang, who lived at
Keng La O in China. Accordingly in the year 489 H. K. (1127
A. D.) Princess Ye Hkam Leng was appointed ruler and built a city,
which was called Wing Nam I Mi of Nam Paw, the Paw river.
Meanwhile in Sung Ko the Sa-ivhwa San Hkun Kom was dead
and was succeeded by his son Hkun Yi Kwai Hkam, who died
leaving no issue in the year 670 B. E. (1308 A. D.). The ministers
therefore went to Hsen Si to ask for a ruler and the Sawb'ioa Sao
Long Tai L6ng gave them Sao Hkun Hpy Hsang Kang to rule
over Mong Mit Sung Ko. He had four sons Hkun Tai Hkon,
Hkun Tai Hkai, Hkun Tai Tao, and Hkun Sam Awn. Sao Hpo
Hsang Kang only reigned two years and Hkun Tai Hk6n was
elected by the people as his successor. He had a daughter and a
son named Nang Ye Hkon and Ai Pu Hkam.
When Sao Long Tai Pong, the Sawbioa of Hsen Si, had appoint-
ed Hkun Hpang Hkam, his youngest soHj to be Saivb-wa of Mong
Mao in 458 B. E. (1096 A. D.), he himself gave up the Sawb-wa-
238
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
ship to his second son Sao Hkun Tai Long and went into retire-
ment. He lived sometimes in MongMit Sung Ko. sometimes with
his son Hkun Hpang Hkam in Mong Mao, and sometimes with Sao
Hkun Tai Long in Hsen Se. He died in Mong Mit Sung Ko at
the age of one hundred and twenty in 468 B. E. (i 106 A. D.).
During the reign of Sao Hkun Tai Long, Mong Nan, and Mong
Yin were annexed to the State of Hsen St*, which was then the
chief of all the eight Shan States. These were at this time —
Hsen Wi. Mong Nai. Yawng Hwe.
Tung Lao. Mong Him. Sam Ka.
Lai Hka. Kung Ma. Van K6ng,
Keng Hkam. MOng Mong. Pu Kam.
Wang Kawk. Hsi Paw. Mong Lijn,
Nawng Wawn. Mong Kiing. Mong Ting.
Hsi Hklp. Keng Tawng. Mong Ching.
Hsa Tung. Hpa-hsa Tawng.
Maw La Myeng. Mawk Mai.
Sao Long Tai Long appointed Sao Tai Paw to the charge of
Wing Nan and MOng Yin. Tai Paw had three sons, Tao Noi
Chii, Tao Noi Myen, and Sau Pan Noi.
Sao Hkun Tai L6ng reigned for one hundred and twenty-three
years and died In the year 670 B. E. {1308 A. D.).
His grandson Tao Noi Chfe was chosen as his successor by the
people and reigned for forty-two years and died at the age of seven-
ty-three. Sao Hkun Loi Hsan Hpa, a son of Sao Pan Noi, was
then elected by the people to be Sawbiua of Hsen S^.
In Mong Mao, while Princess Yi^ Hkam Leng was ruler of the
State, the two children Hkun Yi Kang Hkam and Hkun Sam Long
lived with their mother at a village Kai Maw at the foot of Loi
Lao and grew up as cultivators. One night the Y6k-ka-so nat
appeared to Hkun Yi Kang Hkam and told him that, if he wished
to prosper, he should go and remove a large stone which he would
find to the north of his farm. Below it there was a seal which he
was to take home with him and treat with reverence. Hkun Yi
Kang Hkam told his brother, and the next day they went and found
the seal, which they took home with them and gave it to their
mother for safe keeping. From that day they prospered and be-
came wealthy.
Nang Ye Hkam Leng reigned for sixteen years and died in 514
B. E. (i 152 A. D.) and the ministers then chose Hkun Yi Kang
Hkam to be Sawbwa of the Mong Mao country. He assumed
the title of Hso Hkan Hpa because one day a tiger had tried to
bite him, but was driven away by the sound of his voice. He first
CHAP. VI,] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI,
239
built the town of Wing S^ Hai, but in 516 B. E. (1154 A. D.) he
moved from ihere and buiU the town of Sb Ran (no doubt the pre-
sent S^ Lan, the Cheila of Mr. Elias) and fortified it with strong
walls and deep moats. When he had established himself there he
summoned Hkun Tai Paw of Mong Yin, Tao Noi Chi^ of Hsen Si:,
and all the rulers of the Hsen \Vi States to make their submission
to him. They flatly refused, so he gathered together an army and
invaded Wing Nan, Mong Yin, and drove out Hkun Tai Paw and
his three sons. They fled to Wing Ta Pck in Hsi Paw and from
there made terms with Hs6 Hkan Hpa and gave him the Princess
Nang Ai Hkam Hpawng in marriage.
In 517 B. E. (1155 A. D.) flkun Kang Hkam Hs6 Hkan Hpa
summoned the brothers Sao Tai Hkbn, Sao Tai Hkai, Sao Tai
Tao, Sao Tai Ting, and Sao Hkam Awn of Mong Mit, Keng Lao,
and Sung Ko to submit, but they killed seven of his messengers
and sent back the other three to bid him defiance. Hs5 Hkan
Hpa therefore attacked them with a large army and defeated them.
Sao Tai Hk6n refused to surrender and was executed at Sung Ko.
The others submitted and Sao Tao Hkal was appointed Saivbwa by
Hso Hkan Hpa, first of Sung Ko and afterwards of Mong Mit also.
Hso Hkam Hpa carried off Sao Tai Hkdn's wife Nang Am
Hkawng, with her daughter Nang Ye Hkung and her son Ai Pu
Hkanij to Mong Mao and proposed to marry her, but his mother
forbade it, because they were cousins. Hs6 Hkan Hpa therefore
gave her to a Paw Mong, Tao KangMon, who had been prominent
in the war.
In the year 530 B. E. (1 158 A. D.) Sao Hso Hkan Hpa gather-
ed a large army and marched against the Sfe Sung-Tu of China.
(The South Hsenwi Chronicle says that the Chinese had attacked
Sfe Ran, but were driven back.) While he was away his ministers
invaded Kiing Ma, where they captured the Satobwa and put him to
death at Tima. Hso Hkan Hpa conquered the Sfe Sung-Tu and
advanced to Mong St; Long (this is the Shan name of Yunnan-
sen : Sung-tu is no doubt the Tsung-tuh or Governor-General
of Yun-Kuei) with a force of four hundred thousand men. There-
upon the Sao W6ng Ti enquired what he wanted and surrendered
Mong Sfe Yung, Sang Mu, and Aw Pu Kat, and this ended the war
with China in 521 B. E. (i 159 A. D.). As soon as he reached S6
Ran the Sawb^va raised another army and invaded Lan Sang, Keng
Hsen, Keng Hung, Keng TOng, La S6ng, La Pong, La Hkong.
Mong Hawng, and Hpahsa Tawng, east of Keng Mai, and conquered
them all, and demanded an annual tribute of twenty-four viss ol gold,
three-hundred viss of silver, and twenty-two elephants, which was
agreed to. He then marched up to the Hsip Hsawng Panna of
240
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
Mong Yon, which submlued without resistance, and then he return-
ed to Mong Mao, where he heard that his Chief Minister Tao Kang
Mon was dead. He appointed Hkun Pu Hkam in his place and
gave him the llllc of Tao Kang Mong and made him Sawbioa of
Mong Tu. About the same time the Sa-wbua Sao Tai Paw sent
a present of gold and silver and asked for the hand of Nang Ye
Hkon for his son Hkun Saii Pan Noi. They were married and had
a son and daughter named Noi Hsan Hpa and Nang Horn Mong.
After this Hso Hkan Hpa ordered an army of nine hundred
thousand men to march against Mong Wehsali I-6ng (Assam)
under the command of his brother Hkun Sam Long (this is the Sam-
I.ung Pha of Elias )and the ministers Tao Hso Han Kai and Tao
Hso Y6n. When they reached Wehsali Long, some cowherds re-
ported the arrival of the army from Kawsampi, the country of white
blossoms and large leaves, and the ministers submitted without
resistance and promised to make annual payment of twenty-five
ponies, seven elephants, twenty-four viss of gold, and two hundred
viss of silver every three years. Hkun Sam Long accepted these
terms and commenced his march back. The two other generals,
Tao Hso Yen and Tao Hso Han Kai, sent on messengers to Hso
Hkan Hpa with a story that Hkun Sam Long had obtained the
easy submission of Wehsali L6ng by conspiring with the King of that
place to dethrone Hso Hkan Hpa, The Snwhca believed the
story and sent poisoned food to his brother, which Hkun Sam Long
ate at Mong Kong (Mogaun^), where he died and was transformed
into a nai.
About the same time Nang Hkan Hkam Hsaii, the wife of Hso
Hkan Hpa and daughter of the Sav}b-ii:a of Mong Leng, left him
owing to some quarrel and went to China, where she gave birth to
a son named Ai Pu Hkam, who married and had a son named Ai
Pu.
In 562 B. E. (1200 A.D.) Hso Hkan Hpa ordered another ex-
pedition against Mi'mg Man (Burma) and gave the command to his
two sons Sao Saii Pyem Hpa and Sao Ngok Ky 0 H pa, together with
the generals Tao Hso Yen, Tao Hso Han Kai, and Tao Hpa Prao.
They invaded the country and first of all captured Wing Takawrg
(Tagaung). The ruler of Takawng fled to Wing Hsaching (Sa-
gaing) and put himself under the protection of Sao Yun, who was
called also Hsato Ming-Pyu. The Shan army advanced on Sa-
faing and Hsato Min-Pyu fled immediately and was followed by
ao Hsihapadi of Takawng, whom he put to death. The Shan
troops then crossed the Nam Kiu (the Irrawaddy) and took Pin
Ya and its ruler called Nalasu, whom they carried off prisoner 10
Mong Mao, where he was afterwards called Mawpaming. It was
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
Ht
in the year 563 B.E. (1201 A.D.) that Hs6 Hkan Hpa's army con-
quered Burma. (The dates and facts are hopelessly wrong here.)
Two years after this a Chinese fortune-teller came and settled
in Wing Sferan and became notorious, Hso Hkan Hpa sent for
him and asked him to show his wisdom. The fortune-teller said
the capital was to be moved from S^ran to a place about three
miles north of the Nam Mao (the Shweli), where a capital would be
found built on gold and silver fields. Accordingly Hso Hkan Hpa
began building; a new capital at a place -called Ta Hsup-u in the
year 566 B.E. (1204 A.D,), and whiU; it was being built many
gold and silver pots were found therCj where they had been placed
by the fortune-teller.
[This new capital was no doubt the present Mong Mao. The
manuscript is not at all clear, but the meaning seems to be that the
desire was to persuade the Sawhwa to move tne capital to the Chi-
nese side of the river. According to Ney Elias's version the
Chinese sent down a party of 130 mules loaded with silver. This
was scattered about among trees which surrounded the site of Mong
Mao. The sequel of the story is not given in this case cither, but
the inference is that the Chinese wanted the people to cut down
the jungles round Mong Mao, so that they might attack it the more
easily].
Sao Hs6 Hkan Hpa was a very powerful ruler and he obtained
the submission of the following States and received tribute from
them to the end of his days : —
Mong Se-yung, Hsang Mu-kwa Hsi-pa Tu-hso (query : the
Chinese I'u-ssu), Mong Hkon, Meung Yawn, Kawi Yotara, Hpa-
hsa Tawng, Labon, Lakawn, Lang Sang [this is what the Burmese
called Leng Zeng and is no doubt I he Chinese t.an-tsiang ; it was
probably Wing-chanij^ (Vienchan) or Luang Prabang, whichever was
for the time the dominant State of the Lao. Luang Prabang has
outlasted Wir.g Chang as capital], Wang Kawk, Mawk Mai, Hsip
Hsawng Panna, Keng Hung, Chieng Hai, Chieng Hsen, Chieng Mai,
Pai-ko fPegu), Pang-ya (Pinya), Eng-wa lAva), HsaTung, Yan-
kong, Maw Lamyeng, besides Hsa-ching (Sagaing), and Wehsali
L6ng (which is almost certainly Assam, whose Buddhisiical name
is Welsali). He reigned for fifty-ihrte years and died at the age
of seventy-three in the year 567 B.E. (1205 A,D.) and was suc-
ceeded by his son Sao Pern Hpa, who assumed the title of Sao
Hso Pern H pa and reigned for two years and was succeeded by his
son Hkun Tai Pern Hpa, who assumed the title of Sao Hso Wan
Hpa. He was a tyrant and was put to death by his people for his
cruelty and oppression.
3»
24-2
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
Hkun Ng6k Chyo Hpa was then brought, up from M6ng Ang-wa
(Ava) and became Sawhwa under the title of Sao Hso Sung Hpa,
but died Insane in about six months' time, in the year 571 B.E.
(1209 A.D.).
The country then remained for a time under the administration
of the ministers Tao HsO Yen, Tao Hpa Prao, and Tao Hs6 Han
Kai, while enquiry was made as to what had become of Nang Kang
Hkam Hsaii, Hso Hkan Hpa's queen, who had quarrelled WMth him
and gone to live in China; while great with child. The deputation
reached Mong Sfc Yung-song (probably Yung Ch'angi and found
that the queen was dead, but had left a son named Hkun Pu
Hkam, who had a son Hkun Pu Kaw (called Ai Pu above).
Hkun Pu Hkam was offered the SawbwasWip, but he refused it and
suggested his son Hkun Pu Kaw, who was accordingly elected and
on his accession in the yt-ar 636 B.E. (1274 A.O^) assumed the
name of Sao Hso H6m Hpa and took up his abode at Wing Ta
Hsup U (the modern Mong Mao).
In the following year the new Sa-wbwa summoned all the tributary
chiefs to his capital, but they refused to come. An army therefore
was despatched under the command of Tao Hso Yen, Tao Hpa
Prao, and Tao Hso Han Kai and it overcame the States of Man
Maw, Mong Yang, Mong Hkong, Mong Kung Kwai, Lampalam,
Kare Wong Hso, and Mong Yang. A garrison under Tao Hpa
Prao was established at Mong Yang and another under Tao Hso
Han Kai at Mong Hkong.
While these things were happening, Sao Hso H6m Hpa, the
SaTi'bwa, ravished several women in the town and seduced the wife
of the minister Tao Hpa Prao. Upon this the Smvbzva Tao Kang
Mong of Mong Tu, with a force under the command of Tao Hpa
Prao, marched on Wing Ta Hsup U and drove Sao Hso H6m Hpa
out of the country and he fled 10 Mong Nan in Mong Sfe (Yun-
nan) and put himself under the protection of the Sao Wong Ti-
This was in the year 638 B.E. (1276 A.D.), and at (he same time
the Smvbwa Tao Kang Mong appointed his son Sao Hso Yep Hpa
to be Sawbwa of Mdng Mao.
At this time (it was really more than two centuries earlier)
Nawrahta Mong Saw of Pu Hkam went to China in search of the five
relics of the Buddha, and on his return journey he visited the S6ng-
Tu of Mong St (the Governor-General of Yunnan). By the ad-
vice of the S6ng-Tu, Sao Hso H6m Hpa told his story to Naw
rahta and was referred to the Emperer of China. Accordingly he
went to the Sao W6ng-Ti with a present of four elephants, tour-
viss of gold, and forty viss of silver, and petitioned to be reinstated
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
343
in Mong Mao. The Emperor thereupon sent five hundred thou-
sand men, with reinforcements of tnree hundred thousand from
Mong Sfe, under the command of ihe General Wang Song-ping to
reinstate Sao Hso H6m Hpa in Mong Mao. Tao Kang Mong
offered to submit and made a present of eight elephants, eight viss
of gold, and forty viss of silver, which was accepted, but shortly
afterwards Sao Hsb H6m Hpa with a party of Chinese soldiers
surprised him while he was smoking opium and put him to death.
Upon this his son, Sao Hkuii Hkam Tep Hpa, with all his men,
fled to Man Kang in Mong Kyit and Hso Horn Hpa became
Sa-jL'b%'a again in 641 B.E, (1279 A.D.). Hkun Ham Tep Hpa re-
treated before the Chinese and settled at KengPa in Keng Tawng,
near the mouth of the Nam Tcng, which is a tributary of the Nam
KOng (the Salween). The Chinese, however, pursued him here
also, so he collected a number of men and attacked them and
drove them back as far as Mong Tu, where there was considerable
fighting. The Chinese asked for reinforcements and the Sao
\V6ng-Ti sent them, but afterwards, when he was informed that the
Nam Mao (the Shweli) was the boundary between Mong Mao and
Hsen Wi, he ordered hostilities to be stopped and in 645 B.E.
(1283 A.D.) recalled the General Wang SOng-ping to China. Sao
Hso Horn Hpa remained as Sa-xbwa in Mong Mao and Sao Hkun
Tep Hpa rcturiied to Hsen Wi and removed his capital in the year
648 B.E (1286 A.D.) from Hsen Wi to Loi Sang Mong Kiing,
where he stayed for a year and then moved to Loi Long Pawng Nang.
In 650 B.E. he moved again to Wing Ta Puk in Hsi Paw and built
a large town there and assumed authority over all the Shan Stales,
including Hsa Tung, Van K6ng, Maw La Myeng, Wang Kawk,
Hpa Hsa Tawng, Hsip Hsawng Panna, and Mong Pai. His queen
was a daughter of the Saivhva Sao Saii Pan Noi and of Nang Ye
Hkfin and he had five sons, Hkun Ai Long, Hkun Hkam Pern,
Hkuu Hkam P6t, Hkun Hkam Hom, and Hkun Hkam Wat and a
daughter Nang Hpa Long Horn Mong. He appointed his eldest
son Hkun Ai L6ng to be Sa^wbT^:a of Mong Yaw during his life
time, and after a reign of fifteen years died in the year 765B.E.
(1403A.D,), His son Hkun Hkam Pern Hpa succeeded him as
Saivbwa. He removed to Mong Hko and remained there for two
years and then shifted his capital to Mong Kcng, where he died in
the year 767B.E. (1405A.D.) without leaving issue. His brother,
Sao Hkun Hkam Pot, succeeded him as Sa-wb-iva of Hsen Wi. He
had two sons, Hkun Nkam Hung and Hkun Hkam Wat, and died
after a reign of two years and was succeeded, by his elder son, who
took the title of Sao Long Hkam Hkai Hpa, and in the year 770
B.E. (i4o8)A,D.) moved his capital from Mong Keng to Wing
344
THE UPPF.R BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
Hkam Kai north of Sh U. In the year 771B. E. (1409 A. D.)
Mong Pu Hkam (the king of Pagan) raised an army and in-
vaded Hsen VVi. In the same year Meng Kyawzwa became the
King of Ava and joined Meng Pu Hkam in the attack on Wing
Hham Hkai Lai. In the year 780B.E. (141SA.D.) the two coun-
tries signed a treaty and the Burmese returned to their own territory.
According to the South Hsen Wi Chronicle this is the date of the
overthrow of Hsen Wi. Sao L6ng Hkam Hkai Hpa had three sons —
Hkam Hawt, Hkam Yawt, and Hkam I-at. Hkam Hawt was order-
ed to remain in the capital with his father, but was appointed Sam-
bwa of Wing Hkum. Hkam Lat was appointed Sa-ahwa of Kiing
Ma. On the death of his father, the second son Hkam Yawt be-
came Sa-:viitva and moved his capital to Wing Leng. He had a son
and a daughter — Hkun Wat and Nang Han Hkon Saw — and in the
year 8o6B,E. (1444A.D.) Hkun Wat succeeded on his father's
death and moved the capital to Hsup Hio S^ U, on the banks of
the Nam Tu (the Myit-ngfe). His sister, Nang Han Hkon Sawr,
was carried off and married by the King of the Nagas.
Sao Hkam Wat reigned fifteen years and was succeeded by Sao
L6ng Hkam Hep Hpa in the year 821 B.E. (1459A.D.). In his
time the Hsip Hsawng Panna rebelled against his brother, who was
in charge and Hkam Wat marched there and restored order and
also visited Mong Yon, Mong Ping, and Keng Mai, where he dis-
covered an image of Buddha and carried it off to Wing S6 U.
(The South Hsen Wi Chronicle says that the expedition against
Chiengmai was made under orders from the King of Burma and adds
that fikam Hep Hpa captured ihe Chief of Chiengmai, Saophra
Kaw Mong, also known as Tarahsi Hcng-ka, and brought him a
prisoner to Hsen Wi). Shortly after his return he shifted his capi-
tal to Wing Ai, owing to a famine which prevailed. He reigned
sixty-three years and in the year 884 B. E. (1518 A. D.) Sao L6ng
Hkam Hsen Hpa Ahsen Hpa Kyi of Mong Mit became SuToh-wa
and reigned for ten years. He was succeeded by Sao L6ng Hkam
Hken Hpa, who was followed in five years* time by Sao Long Hkam
Pak Hpa. In the year 903B.E. (i54!A.D.) Sao Long Hkam Hsen
Sung became Sawbwa and reigned till the time of Mengtara Rasa
Meng Saw. When that king became ruler of Ava he appointed
the nephew of Sao Long Hkam Hken Hpa of Mong Kb to be
Sawbiva of all the Shan States. In the year 923B.E. (1561A.D.)
Sao Long Hkam Hsen Hpa moved his capital from Wing S^ U to
KQng Ma and thence to Wing Tawng Kang S6 Hak, where he
reigned for twenty-four years. In the year 932B.E. (1570A.D.)
Sao Long Hkam Hkong Hpa succeeded and moved the capital
from S6 Hak to Wing Sfe U again.
CHAP. VI,] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAl.
a45
In'the year953B.E. (1593A.D.) during the reii^n of Nyawng Rap
Meng Kyi Kyaw in Ava, the Satvb-wa of Hsi Paw Ong Pawng, rebel'
led and consequently the Sawbwa Hkam Mken Upa sent troops to
aid the king in subduing the revolt. They were commanded by
Sao Tap Hsang Hkam and he took 6ng Pawng and captured the
Stzwbwa Sao Kaw Hpa.
In the same year Mijng I'ing, Nam Palu, Yawng liwe, and Nawng
Mon rebelled, but were immedlateiy suppressed.
In the year 961 B.E. (1599A.D.) Hkam H so Hkam Nan rebelled
and seized Wing S6 U and held it for a year, but Hkam Hkai Noi
Sao Kyu, who at first took refuge in Kawi Yotara, collected men in
the Hsip Hsawng Panna and in Yotara (Siam) and drove out Hkam
Hso Hkam Nan.
Intheyear967B.E. (1605A.D.) Sao Kyuand the Hpaya of Mong
Pawn rebelled against Mengtara Nawng Sarap. That Prince got
reinforcements from Sao Upa Yasa and from Sao Hso Horn Hpa,
the Kyem-tnong of Mong Mit, and invaded i^ong Pawn and Wing
Se U. Sao Kyu Hkam Hkai Noi had to fly. first to Wing Kc-ng Hin
in China and from there he was driven back to Kawi Yotara.
After his flight the people sent Sao Tap Hsawng Hkam with
presents to tnc King Mengtara Nawng Sarap and he accepted the
submission of the couniry and assumed the administration. This
was the end of the history of Hsen Wi Long, the country of white
blossoms and large leaves, in the province of Siri Wilata Maha
Karobawsa Kawsampi. It had twenty-five rulers, who were the
descendants of the generation of Sao Hkun Tai Hkan and were as
follows : —
Hkun Tai Hkan,
Tai P6ng,
Tai Long,
Noi Chfe.
Noi Myen,
Noi San Hpa,
Pang Hkam,
Kang Hkam Hs6 Hkan Hpa,
Hso Pyem Hpa,
Hs5 Wat Hpa.
Hso H6m Hpa,
Hs6 Yep Hpa,
Hkun Tet Hpa.
Hkam Hkai Noi Sao Kyu.
Hkun Pyem Hpa,
Hkun Put Hpa,
Hkam Pak Hpa,
Hkam Hkai Hpa,
Hkam Hawt Hpa,
Hkam Wat Hpa,
Hkam Hep Hpa,
Hkam Hsen Hpa,
A Hsen Hpa,
Hkam Hken Hpa,
Hkam Hsen Hsung Hpa,
Hkam Ching Hpa,
Hkam Nan Hpa> ^nd
346
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP VI.
They ruled over twenty tributary States as follows (these are
really the names of the various capitals): —
Pu Hkam,
Nawng Hpo Mh,
Keng Hin,
Keng Lon,
Wing Hko,
Wing Keng Hkam Kai,
Wing Long,
Wing Ai,
S^ Hak,
a period of six hundred and
Hsen Wi Hsen Sfe,
Wing Wai,
U Ting,
Mong Mao,
S6 Hai,
Wing Nawng I,
Wing Nang Ukai Hkam Pawng,
S6 Ran,
L6ne Kwai,
Ta Puk,
and maintained their sovereignty for
one years.
In 968B.E. (1606A.D.) after the flight of Sao Hkam Kyu, Sao
L6ng Mengtara Nawng Sarap and Sao Upa Yasa appointed Sao
Hs5 Hung Hpa, the /Cyem-moug oi Mong Mil, to be the ruler of Hsen
Wi Long. He was the son of Sao Hso H6m Hpa, the Sawbwa of
Mong Mit, who was a descendant of Sao Long Hkam Hkcn Hpa.
(The South Hsen Wi Chronicle places the accession of Sao Hso
Hung Hpa in 1651, but this must be a mistake and is no doubt due
to a miscomprehension of the Shan system of counting by cycles.
This is hardly understood now south of the Nam Mao, or Shweli
river. We know from Burmese history, where Mungtara Nawng
Sarap is called Nyauiig Ram Meng by Sir Arthur Phayre, that the
Northern Shans were subdued in 1604. The Shan dale given here
is therefore no doubt substantially correct.)
Thus llsen Wi Long became a dependent State of MOng Man
Mong Men {i.e., Burma). Wing Se U was the capital of Sao HQng
Hpa and he reigned for thirty-nint: years. He had four sons Sao
Kyem-mong Hs6 Hung. Sao Hpaya Sao, Sao Hso Hom-mong,
and Sao Hs6m Hpu. The Kyem-mong died in Pai-ko (Pegu f)
and left a son named Hkam Nawn Nai Hkam Kaw Hpa. Sao
Hpaya Sao died in Ava and Sao Hs6m Hpu died in Mong Kawng.
In the year 1006B.E. (1644A.D.) Hkam Nawn was appointed
Sawbioa with the title of Sao Hso Hsen Hpa and lived in Wing S6
U. He lived there for six years and was then put to death by Sao
L5ng Mengtara and Sao Hso Hung Hpa was appointed Sawbwa.
He had two sons Hso Hung and Hkun Awk Hkam and a daughter
Nang Han Hpa Hko Hkam Hijng.
Hso Hung Hpa collected an army and invaded Mong Mao, Mong
Wan, Sd Hpang, Mong Na, San Ta, Mong Kawn, and Mong Ti,
and conquered the whole of the States near the Nam Kong which
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
247
had formerly belonged to Sao Hs6 Hkan Hpa. Wing S?;U remain-
ed his capita! and he reigned for thirty-three years. He was suc-
ceeded in 1046 B. E. (1684A.D.) by his daughter Nang Han Hpa
Hko Hkam Hong, who reigned for four years and died in Wing
S6 U, The country then remained for nine years without a ruler
and then in 1059B.E. (1697A.D.) Sao Long Hkam Hsawng Hpa
was named Saisib-wa and lived for eleven years in Wing S6 U. He
then removed his capital to a place called Man Kao Hlwe Mong.
Pang Pawng and built Wing Ting Yit there, but stayed for only a
twelvemonth and then built a new capital Wing Pang Pawng, also
called Wing Hsup Pang Pawng.
While he was still at Wing Sfe U, a person named Ku Ma of
Lan Sang Mong Yotara (Luang Prabang) came with his family to
Hsen Wi Long and settled at Hsup Nang Pang Pawng Tu and
built there the Wat Sfe Kvu, which was afterwards called Hsung
Pawng S6 U Long.
'X\\QSa7obwa Ilkam Hsawng Hpa reigned for twenty-three years,
eleven years in Wing Sfe U and eleven years in Wing Hsup Pang
Pawng, besides one year at Wing Ting Yit.
The names of the Sa-wbwas of Wing Sfe U were —
Hkam Wat Hpa.
Hkam Hsen Hpa.
Ahsen Hpa Kyi.
Hkam Pen Hpa.
Hkam Hken Hpa.
Hkam P.nk Hpa.
Hkam Ching Hpa.
Hkam Hs6 Hkam Nan Hpa
Hkam Hkai Noi Sao Kyu.
Hso Horn Hpa.
Hs6 Kaw Hpa.
Hso Hsiing Hpa.
Hkam Pet Hpa.
Nang l-lan Hpa Hko.
Hkam Hsawng Hpa.
Hkam Hong.
Wing Sfe U remained the capital for a period of 101 years.
Hkam Hsawn^j Hpa had four sons — Hkam Ho, Hkan HQng, Hkam
Leng, and Hkam Kawt — and a daughler named Han Hpa Nang
Naw Hseng.
Hkam Ho, who was born of a minor queen, Nang Awn, died
young, but left a son named Hkun Li. Hkam Kawt was the son
of the Queen Nang Mong Na, and died in Ava, leaving a son and
a daughter named Hkun rising Hpo and Nang Hsoi Hkam Mong.
The daughter Han Hpa Nang Naw Hsen was the daughter of the
Chief Queen Nang L6ng Han Hpa Meng Hko Hkam Hiing.
Sao Hkun Li was ordered by the King of Ava to invade Chieng
Mai. On his return he was appointed Sau^bwa of Hsen Wi and
reigned for five years, when he was murdered by dacoits as he was
on his way to worship at the pagoda in Kfing Tawng.
348
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI.
Mkun Hseng Ilkain Kawt, a son of Hkun HsCng Hpo, who was
with him at the time, was also murdered.
At the same time the Sawbwa of Mong Kang wished to marry
Nang Hsoi Hkam Mong, but she fled to Mong Ching,
In the year 1076 B. E. (1714 A. D.) therefore Sao Hkun Leng
was appointed Sawbwa. He was a uterine brother of Hkun Ho
and took the title of Sao Naw Hpa. In the fourth year of his reign
Kung Ma rebelled against him, and at the same time his son, the
Kyem-mOng t Pu Sao Htawn La, also rebelled. He was, however,
captured immediately and put to death, but very soon afterwards,
on the fourth waxing of the fourth month, his daughter, Nang Hsum
Naw Hseng Pan rebelled and murdered Sao Naw Hpa in his palace
in the middle of the night.
She was confirmed in charge of HsenWi by the King Mengtara
Nanta Yasa and reigned for 12 years, when she was succeeded in
1090 B. E. P728 A. D.) by her brother Sao L6ng Hkam Hong
Hpa. He married Nang Tu Sum of Mong Mao and had four sons
and five daughters. (He is apparently the Hseng Hong ol the
South Hsen \Vi Chronicle, which states that he received his appoint-
ment order in Ava and returned to the Shan States by way of
Yawng Hwe, where he married Nang Hseng Pu, a niece of the
During the time of the Sawhwa Hkam Hong the Kwi M6ng, the
countr)' of the Kwi (this is the country of the Kwei-kia, *' the
Gwfe Shars'* whom Mr. Parker places in Madaya, near Mandalay),
rebelled, and the King of Rurma ordered Hkam Hong to march
against them. He sent his son Hkam Wat Hpa, who drove the
Kwi as far as O Hpo O Meng and then returned to Hsen Wi.
Shortly after his arrival the Chinese of Maw La-wu rose in rebel-
lion and seized Maw Pang Hp6k and from there threatened to in-
vade Hsen Wi. Sao Hkam Wat, however, drove them from Kyu
Wing Kak back lo China. But disturbances caused by the Chinese
contmued in the Kwi M^ng, at Maw Pang Yang, and at Miing
Pat and Ye La, and Hkam Hong sent another army against them
under Sao Mang Ti, who drove the Chinese rebels as far as Hsi
Paw, where the Burmese troops fell upon them and captured the
Saivbiva of Mong Pat, who was, however, rescued by his own people
as he was being carried down to Ava. Ko Hseng Hsi Kang Rasa
W.1S the general in command of the Burmese iroops in the Kwi
M6ng and he fell in battle there at 0 Hpo O Meng. Upon this
Sao Mang Ti went to the assistance of the Burmese army and
fought both the Kwi and the Chinese. While he was still there Sao
Long Hkam Hong died at Pang Pawng after a reign of twenty-four
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
•49
years. Sao Mang Ti, his brother, returned in 1115 B. E. (1753
A.D. ; the South Hsen Wi Chronicle gives the date as 1 750) and was
chosen Saivbwa by the people at MongMot, when he took the title
of Hs6 Um Hpa. He had three sons named Sao Naw U Mong,
Hkun Hseng Vi, and Hkun Hsam Hpo and two daughters Nang
Hscng Hkam Mu and Nang Hsoi Hkam Mong, who were married
to Sao Hkam Ho and Sao Hkam Leng. (The South Hsen Wi
Chronicle says that Sao Mang Ti confiscated all his brother's pro-
perty and consequently the dowager Nang Hscng Pu returned to
Yawng Hwe and gave birth there to a son called Hkun Nu, who
aftenvards became Sawb-n^a with the title of Sao Hswe Cheng.
The account given of Sao Mang Ti's reign also differs consider-
ably. The Burmese Government, it is said, persisted in demanding
heavy tribute and levies of fighting men from Hsen Wi. Sao
Mang Ti built a pagoda and dreamt that, if its spire inclined to»
wards Ava, Hsen Wi was to be always under Burmese authority ;
if it remained upright, the State was to be independent, but, if it bent
towards China, that country was to be the suzerain. Next morning
he found the top of the pagoda leant towards Burma. He there-
fore abandoned lisen W'i and went to live at Mong Ka in Chinese
territory. He was followed there by his son-in-law Sao Hkam Hu,
who had been fighting for the Burmese in Karenni. The king
summoned both to Ava, Sao Mang Ti refused to go and died
shortly afterwards in Mong Ka. Sao Hkam Hu went to Ava and
died immediately after his arrival. His brother Sao Hkam Leng
remained in Chinese service and was active in invasions of Hsen
Wi and held the town for three years. Hkun Hseng Awng Tun
also commanded a Chinese army and invaded not only Hsen Wi,
but also Mong Nai, where he maintained himself for 17 years.)
Maw Pang Yang again gave trouble and occupied Nawng Mon
La-hseo. The Burmese sent an army under Bo Hsang Kang, and
Sao Mang Ti gave the command of his forces to Sao Hkam Leng
and they drove the Chinese out of Nawng Mon La-hseo and then
marched down to Ava. In 11 18 B. E. (1756 A. D., while Sao
Hkam Leng was in Ava, his wife, the Sawbwa^s daughter, took
another husband. In the same year Prince Hswe Tawng (Shwe-
daung) rebelled and had to take refuge in Hsen Wi under the pro-
tection of Sao Mang Ti, where he settled in Ting Yit, but had to
remove to Kun Long, Sao Mang Ti supported the Shwedaung
Prince in his rebellion against King Awng Zeya (Alaungpaya) in
1 120 B- E. (1758 A. D.) and was driven to Kiing Ma, where he
built a pagoda, and shortly afterwards died.
Awng Zeya died in 1122 B. E. (1760) and was succeeded by Sao
Mengtara Nawng L6k (Naungdawgyi), and in the same year the
33
aso
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. VI,
chief of Kwi Mfing again rebelled and established himself in Hsen
Wi. A Burmese army under Meng-kyi, Kyaw Ma Ting came up
and invaded Kami Kang, Mong Pat, and Mdng Hko Mong Ka-
The Kwi M^ng Sawbwa fled lo Maw Noi Mong Lem, where he
put the Sawbioa lo death and settled in Mong La.
Shortly after this the Men^-kyi, Kyaw Ma Ting, came and es-
tablished himself in Hsen Wi. He recalled Sao Hkam Pat from
Mong Kawn and set him up as Sawbiva, and, having brought in
Sao Kham Ho from Se Hpang, took him down with him to Ava.
But soon afterwards Kung Ma rebelled and the Meng-kyi re-
turned and drove the Chinese back to Kyu Hsin and built a
bridge over the Nam Kong (Salween.)
In the year 1 125 B. E, (1763) Sao Hsam Kyap Me Tu (Sin-
byushin) became King of Ava, and on the fourth day of the eleventh
month of that year he appointed Sao Kham Leng to be Saw/fwa
of Hsen Wi and he established himself under the name of Sao
Long Hkam Hsawng Hpa. In 1127 B. E. (1765 A. D.) troops
from Ava came up under the command of Teng Kyaw Bo Myawk
Wang and Bo Mang Kawng and with reinforcements from Hsen
Wi under the command of Sao Hkun Hseng Awng Hion marched
to Mong Lem and the Hsip Hsawng Mong (Keng Hung.) The
Sawbwas of these States fled to the Sao Wong Ti, who sent an army
from China, which drove the Burmans and Shans back to Hsen Wi.
The Chinese army then in the following year 1 1 28 B . E . ( 1 766 A. D.)
invaded the whole of the eight Shan States on both banks of the
Nam Kong. Sao Hkun Hkam Hsawng Hpa surrendered to the
Chinese General at Mong Myen (Mien Ning ?) and was brought
by him to Mong Pawn, where he was established as Sawbwa wnth
a Chinese title. He reigned for three years and died of cholera
soon after receiving his insignia and was succeeded by Sao Hkam
P6t.
There was a Chinese Governor at this time living at Tima and
Sao Hkam P6t went to see him and was well received and sent,
with two elephants as a present, to live in Wan Tcng.
Hsen Wi was again utterly destroyed and the Chinese General
summoned the States of Mong Myen, Kung Ma, Mong Ching,
Mung Ka, and Mong Ting to meet him at Hsen Wi.
But in the first month of the next year a Burmese army under
the Myauk Wang Bo came up and expelled the Chinese from Hsen
Wi and drove the Chinese Tajen to Mong Na and settled in Mong
Sa. But the Chinese troops under the Taj6n of Mong W'an at-
tacked him and he retreated to Mong Ma and afterwards to Mong
Y6k and Mong Yin.
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
aS»
The Chinese troops then took possission of Wing S6 U, but the
Myawk Wang f^o gathered five thousand men and drove them back
and, with support from Sao Hkun Hkam Pot, drove the Chinese
beyond S6 Hpang, Mcing Ching, and Kting Ma.
At the same time another Burmese army marched through Maw
Noi, Mong Lem, and drove the Chinese from the Hsip Msawng
Mong (Keng Hong).
In the following year, however, the Chinese Taj^n came through
Mong Ko and Mung Si by way of the Nam Lan and occupied Man
Saw S& U and appointed Wu Kung Ye Governor of the Shan
States, and drove the Burmese from Hsen Wi to Hsi Paw and later
from Ilsipaw also. Wu Kung Ye then went to live In Loi L6ng.
(This Wu Kung Ye is probably the Burmese Thukhunye and the
" Duke Fuh^ng, the Manchu Generalissimo, a relative of the Em-
press," of Mr. Parker.)
A Burmese army under the Kyaw Bo and the Myawk Wang Bo
then came up and drove the Chinese from Hsen Wi through the
upper defile of Ho Km and then expelled Wu Kung Ye from Loi
Long (Tawng Peng) and drove him to Miing Yin, where he died.
(Mr. Parker says " he reached Peking only to die there.") Another
Chinese force came from Kang Usij, but was repulsed and driven
back from Mong Yaw. The Chinese carried off some Chiefs and
one hundred and thirty households with them to Ta Ri (Tali-fu)
and kept them there.
[The South Hsen Wi Chronicle gives the story differently. Ac-
cording to this version, the Chinese General Sao Wong Kantarit
came in 1129 B. E. (1767) with a largt; army, built a bridge over
the Nam Tu at Ta Te above Hsi Paw and placed garrisons in Hsum
Hsai and other places towards Burma. A Burmese army from
Pegu and Martaban drove them back 10 Wing Hkao Hsan (Lashio),
where the Chinese had a formidable fort. The Burmese fortified
themselves on the south side of the Nam Yao at Lashio village and
waited until the Myauk Win Bo marched up through Mong Lem
and Mong Ma and attacked the Chinese from the east. The
Chinese were then driven from Wing Hkao Hsan (the ramparts of
which still remain). Then succeeded a series of IVuns and Sikkes
in Lashio as to which the two chronicles are at variance].
In the year 1137 B.E. (1775 A.D.) the king Sao Mengtara
Long appointed U Ting Hpoi to be Saivbioa of Hsen Wi and he re-
moved his capital to the Nam Yao near Lashio, and therefore Lashio
was formerly called Wing U Ting Hpoi, after the Sawbwa who
reigned there for seven years and was succeeded by the Kyauksfe
iVun, who remained in charge for three years and was then replaced
ftS*
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
by Sao Hswe Hking of Ton Hkam. who came from Yawng Hwe.
He was the son of the Sawbxca Khun Hscng Hong. Sao Hswe
Hking took the title of Hso Wai Hpa and moved the capital to
Wing Hsup Pang Pawng. He reigned for twenty-three years and
died in 1162B.E. (1800 A.D.)
[Hsi Paw invaded Mong Tung in the second year of his reign
(1780), but was repulsed. The South Hsen Wi Chronicle gives
further details. King Patung (Bodawpaya) succeeded Singu Min
(Maung Maung) in 1781 and summoned the ^aaiaws of Kawsanipi
to his capital. Eight of them went. Sao Hswe Cheng did not,and
the other Sawhwas said that he was preparing to rebel. Sao Hswe
Cheng was therefore arrested by the Set-taw \Vu?t and the Danubyu
IVuH and taken to Ava, where he was sentenced to death. The
A-weyaukt in whose charge he was, Interested the Queen-mother in
the prisoner. She represented the matter to the King, with the
result that the Wuns were executed and Sao Hswe Cheng was
restored to his State. This was in the year before the foundation
of Amarapura and two years before the arrival of the Arakan image
in boats built specially for the purpose by the King. During the
Sawbwa's reign it is noted that in 1786 the Sawbivas of Hsi Paw
and Mang Lijn built capitals on new sites. In 1787 the Chinese
sent messengers with valuable presents to Hsen Wi, Hsi Paw, and
Lawk Sawk, and in 1 788 the Sawbwas of all the Shan States united
to build a fort at Mong Nai, because of an eclipse which happened
in that year, while, the year after, a new hti was mounted on the
Shwe Maw Daw in Pegu apparently for the same reason,]
The Sawbwasoi^Aong Mao, Mong Ting, Hsi Paw, Mong Sit, Sara
Ka, Kcng Tawng, Nam Hkok, Nawng WaRn, and Yawng Hwe at-
tended Sao Hswe Cheng's funeral. He left seven sons and two
daughters. One of the daughters, Nang Hseng Santa, was married
to the King Mengtara Long and had a son named Hsato Mang-hsa,
but he died voung. In the year 1 163B.E. (1801A.D.) the King of ^
Burma appomted Hkun HsGng Hong, the eldest son, to be Sawbwa of'
Hsen Wi with the title of Sao H.s6 Kaw Hpa. In 1 171B.E, (1809)
Mong Het rebelled against him and four years later, when he was
on a visit to Mong Ut, there was a general rising. He was sum-
moned to Ava to explain how this had happened and from there was
sent back by way of Mong Nai, Mong Nawng, and the Kawn Tau,
but he died before he reached his capital. He built a bridge over
the Nam Tu and reigned for fifteen years and he left a son, Sao
Hswe Pawng, by a Burmese wife, but the King appointed a General,
named Hsiri Rasa Hsang Kyam of Mong Kawng to take charge
of the State, which he held for three years and then died. He was
succeeded by Hsiri Kyawdin NawTahta, who, however, was recalled
CHAP. VI.J THE SHAN STATF.S AND THE TAl.
353
to Ava in twelve months' time. Then, in 1 181B.E. (1819A.D.),
King Patung, Bodawpaya, died and his nephew, the next Burmese
King, appointed Sao Naw Mong, a son of Hso Wai Hpa, to be Saw-
biva of Hsen VVi with the title of Sao Long Hso H6m Hpa. He
died within the year at Mong Nai, where he had gone to see the sitk^,
having only reigned five months (the Southern Chronicle says two
years). The King then appointed his brother Sao Hkam Kawt
with the title of Sao L6ng Hsii HOng Hpa. He was Sawbwa for
two years and died at Mong Xai, whither he had been driven by the
rebels Ching L6ng Hsung Hko Awn, Hpraka Hkam Kal of Mong
Pat, Hpraka Hkam M6n Hkam Hsen of Hsen l..em, Htao Mdng
Hpraka Jlkam Man of Kat Kang, and Heng Hkam Hiing of Man
Wap. The deceased Sawbwa left a son Ilkun HsengMawng Hpo
living in Ava, but in 1 1S6 B. E. (1824 A.D.) the Sao Long Meng-
tara appointed Sao Hkam Pak to be Sa^vbwa of Hsen \Vi. Before
he took charge, however, he received orders at Mong Nai to go with
the other Shan San^hzcas to fight the English at Rangoon. He
took three thousand men with him and was killed in the fighting.
In his absence the Wtin Kyawzwa Myeng was put in temporary
charge of the administration, and in 1189S.E. (1827 A.D.) Hkun
Hsang Hkam Nan, another son of Hso Wai Hpa, was created Saw*
bwa with the title of Sao Long Hso Yep Hpa. He died in three
years* lime and was succeeded by his son Hkun Hseng Hkam Nan,
who died on his way up to Hsen \Vi.
In 1193B.E. (183!) Sao Hswe Mawng, a son of Sao Hso Kaw,
was appointed Sawb-iua of Hsen Wi with the title of Hso Wai Hpa,
and reigned for seven years.
During his time the Htao MSngs of Mong Het, Mong Kyek,
Man Sang, and Mong Yai rebelled and joined Mang Lon. About
the same time the Sarvbrca of Yawng Hwe also rebelled. He was
sent to Ava and died there and his two sons also died, one of them
at Pyang U (Pyinulwin) and the other at Ava.
Sao Hswe Mawng joined in the rebellion and marched to Pang
Hkao, near the Tawngtaman lake to support the Sck-kya Mintha.
Apparently he did not fight and was merely deposed.
In the year 1200 B.E. (1838} the Burmese King appointed Sao
Hkun Hkam Leng, a son of the Queen Nang Hkam Kyi, to be
SoTvbwa of Hsen Wi with the title of Hso Hkan Hpa. During his
reign the Yang Sawk (Red Karens) rebelled against Ava and the
Hsen Wi Sawbwa with other Shan forces was sent to suppress them,
which he did, but on his return to Ava ho was put to death for some
fault after having been Saicbiva for seven years.
In 1208 B. E. (1846) Hkun Hseng Naw Hpa, a son of Sao Naw
Hpa L6ng and grandson of Sao Hswfe Cheng, was appointed Sawbwa
354
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI,
with the title of Hs6 Sam Hpa, Sltta-palaThudhamma Yaza. He
had almost immediately to deal wilh a rebellion headed by Twi Taw
Hkani Mawn, who was joined by the Hcngs and Hta-mongs of
Kokang Taw Niu, Kun L6ng, Kang Mong, Mimg Kawn, and the
Kawn Rang and drove the 5aa'ia'a toNaNoi Kaling and thence to
Hsai Hkao, Mong Yin, and MongTat. There, however, he gather-
ed an army and drove the rebels to Mon^ Ti and Miing Ting,
where he captured Twi Taw Mkam Mawn and put him to death and
marched all the way to Mong Nawng. In I2ii B. E. (1849) he
had subdued the whole ol the subordinate States, but he died in
the same year. The Southern Chronicle says he was put to death
in Ava.
The Wun Paw La Nan Ta was then put In charge of Hsen Wi,
but died in a year and was succeeded by the /!'«« Mawng Kyut.
It was at this time that King Mind6n seized the throne from his
brother. On his accession he appointed Kun Hseng Mawng Hpo
to the charge of Hsen Wi. Hkun Hscng Mawng Hpo made a
prisoner of Mawng Kyut and took him to Ava, where he was put
to death. Sao Long Hso Sam Hpa was then appointed Sawbwa of
Hsen Wi in 1215 B. E {1853). The whole State was very dis-
turbed and he put the Paw Mong Hsung Ton Hkam and his son to
death. Upon this the Hcng of Mijng Nawng and the Ho Hsiing of
Mong Ton went first to Mong Nai and then to Ava and obtained
the separation of their own and other States from Hsen Wi. This
was in 1216 B. E, (1854), and in the following year the Sawbwa
Hso Sam Hpa was summoned to Ava. While he was there the
5xV/'t^ Meng Kawng Rasa was put in charge of Hsen Wi. He was
unable to suppress the disorders and left in eight months' time and
was succeeded by another Sitk^, Hseng Kadaw, who obtained forces
to support him from the Shan States to the south. He also was
recalled after a year, and in 1218 B.E. (1856) Hkun Hseng Mawng
Hpo was sent up again and look the title of Sao Long Hs6 Kaw
Hpa. But the disturbances continued. The Paw Mong of Mong
Hsing overran and occupied Mong Nawng and Kesi. The Htao-
m'dngs of these States made their way to Mong Nai and Ava and
obtained permission to be independent of Hsen Wi. The order was
issued in 1220 B.E. (1858}.
In the same year Hso Kaw Hpa (Maung llpo) went back to Ava
after three years' stay at Wing Hsup Pang Pawng. The Pagyi IVun
took his place, but died in a year. The Sitkd Hseng Kadaw then
came up again. He settled in Lashio, but soon returned to Ava
and was succeeded by the Pa Hkan Wun Mingyi, who, however,
died at Man Sang before he reached Hsen Wi. In 1226 B.E, (1864)
Hso Kaw Hpa once more returned, but was recalled in a year, to
CHAP, VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
35s
be replaced by Shwe Pyi Bo, who settled at Lashio. In 1328 B.E.
(1866} the Myingun Prince rebelled and the Shwe Pyl Bo and the
Nga-ya Bo supported him. When the rebellion was over they were
summoned to Ava, but committed suicide at Lashio.
In 1229 B.E. (1867) the Sa-wbwa Hso Sam Hpa, who had been
detained all this time in Ava, came back to Hsen Wi, but in the fol-
lowing year Tao Sang Hai rose against him and the Saivbiva was
again recalled. Wundauks were sent up, one of whom stayed in
Lashio and the other in Wing Hsup Pang Pawng, but they failed
to overcome Tao Sang Hai, and in 1236 B.E. (1864) Hsen Wi town
was burned. The next year Hso Sam Hpa and the Nauk IViudaw-
hmu came up together, but they could not put an end to the distur-
bances and eventually he had to rtireat to Mong Si, while *m 1241
B.E. (1879) Hkun Hsang Ton Hong, with the aid of a large body
of Kachins, established himself in Hsen Wi town and maintained
himself there.
Sao Naw Mong, the son of the Sawbiva, Sao HsGng Naw Hpa
Long Hso Sam Hpa, was kept a prisoner by King Thibaw in Man-
dalay until 1885. He was then liberated by the British troops and
went up to Man Sang. After some stay there he marched north to
attack Hkun Hsang TOn Hong, but was defeated at lashio and
retreated to Na Nang. Here Hkun Hsang Ton H6ng attacked him
in the following year and overran all the Kawn Kang, the present
State of South Hsen Wi. Sao Naw Mong then fled to Mong Nai
and was established in the following year as Saipbiva of South Hsen
Wi at Mong Yai, while Hkun Hsang Ton H6ng received the north-
em half of the Stale with his capital at Wing Msen Wi.
There is sufficient general correspondence Jn facts, names, and
dates in this chronicle with those collected by Ney Elias to warrant
the assertion that the story is the same, and that the " Kingdom of
the Mao Shans" is the same as the Kingdom of Hsen Sfe Man Sfe
and also the same as that of the Kingdom of Pong. The first and
chief authority for this is Major Boileaii Pemberion, whose account of
„. , , „, it was derived from a Shan manuscript chronicle
Kingdom of rOnif. i • i > t • i t i ■ t •
which he obtained and caused to be translated
during his mission to Manipur in 183'^. In this document the first
King's name recorded is that of one Khool-lie ("no doubt Hkun Lai),
" whose reign," writes Major Pemberton, " is dated as far back as the
" eightieth year of the Christian era', and from whom to the time of
'* Murgnow, in the year 667 A.D., the names of twelve Kings are
"given who are described as having gradually extended their con-
" quests from north to south, and the names o\ no less than twenty-
" seven tributary cities are mentioned which acknowledged the supre-
256
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. Vi.
" raacy of Murgnow • • « .In the year 777 A.D. Murg-
*' now died, leaving two sons called Sookampha and Samlongpha
"(these are the Hso Hkan Hpa and the Sam Long Hpa of the
"manuscript translated above), of whom the eldest* Sookampha
" succeeded to the throne of P6ng, and in his reign we find the first
" traces of a connection with the more eastern countries, many of
"which he appears to have succeeded in bringing under subjection
"to his authority." The story is then told of Sam Long Hpa's
campaign against Manipur, Tipperah, &c., and of the poisoning of
Sam Long Hpa by Hso Hkan Hpa, though in this history Sam
Long Hpa is said to have escaped owing to a warning sent him by
his mother.
" From the death of Sookampha in the year 808/' continues
Major Pemberton, "to the accession of Soonganpha in 1315 the
" names of ten Kings only are given • • « ^ but about the
"year 1332 A.D. some disagreements led to collision between the
" frontier villages of the Pong King's territory and those of Yiin-
"nan.
" An interview was appointed between the Kings of P6ng and
"China to take place at the town of Mong SI, which is said to
"have been five days distant from Mong Maorong, the capital of
" P6ng." [This may have been the Mong Si, which is now the centre
of one of the Kachin circles of North Hsen Wi, but is more likely
to have been Miing S^, Yunnan-sen, though that is very much
more than five days* journev.J "The Chinese sovereign, with
"whom this interview took place, is named in the chronicle Cho-
'* wongtec (Sao W6ng-ti), and Shuntee, the last Prince of the iwen-
" tieth imperial dynasty, is in the best chronological tables described
"as having ascended the throne of China in the year 1333." [Mr.
Elias thinks this must have been Cheng-tsu Wen-ti (A.l3. 1403 —
1425) of the Ming dynasty and not Shun-ti of the Yuans, but
since W6ng-ti is simply Hwang-ti, the title and not the name, the
fixing of an absolute dale, if that were possible, would determine
which Emperor it was.]
"The Chinese, however, determined on subjugating the Pong
"dominions and, after a protracted struggle of two years' duraiion»
"the capital of Mogaung (called in the manuscript Mong Kawng)
"or Mong Mao Rong (which would appear to be Mong Mao Ldng,
" a very different place) was captured by a Chinese army, under
"the command of a General called Yang Chang-soo " (the Theinni
manuscripts seem to call him Wang Chung-ping or S6ng-ping),
"and the King Soonganpha with his eldest son, Sookeepha" (these
would appear to be Hso H6m Hpa and Hso Kep Hpa, but the
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
357
Story is very involved), " fled to the King of Pagan or Ava for pro-
*' tection. They were demanded by the Chinese General, to whom
" the Burmese surrendered them, and were carried into China, from
"whence they never returned.**
On this Mr. Ney EHas remarks : —
"So far will be sufficient to follow Major Pcmberlon's story, for it is
"evident, even from these few incidents, erroneous though some of them
''are, thai this Manipuri histnry of PAng is simply that of the Mau Shatis,
" antedated by nearly five hundred years at the commencement. The error
" doubtless arose in the first instance from the absence of an intelligible
"chronology in the original Shan record, and for want of fixed points in
" the contemporary annals of neighbouring countries by which to set up
" land-marks ; but however this may be, we see that on aniving at the death
** o( Chau-ugan-pha Major Pemberton's date is only about one hundred
'* years in arrear uf the correct date and that some four hundred years have
*' had to be distributed over tJie reigns of the intervening Kings. Thus it
" is (hat twelve Kings are made to reign for 587 years, or an average of
" nearly forty-nine years each ; the thirteenth Murgnow (a name impossible
"to recognize) reigns for the astounding period of one hundred and ten
"years, the fourteenth for thirty-one years, and the remaining ten lor 507
"years; giving an average for the whole twenty-four of very nearly fifty-
" one and-a<half years, or more than double the usual period and sufficient
" in itself to show the erroneous nature o( the story from a chronological
•'point of view,"
And if Major Pemberton's report has failed in this respect, it
has hardly been more successful in fixing the site of the capilal of
Pong. " To the Munnipoorees," he says, "the whole country un-
"derits ancient limits was, and is still, known as the kingdom
*' of Pong, of which the city called by the Burmans Mogaung, and
" by the Shans Mong Mao Rong, was the capital. But Mung
" Mao or Mung-iiiao-lung (great Mong Mao) exists to the present
" day under this same name on the Shweli."
Mr. Ney Elias' information was picked up in Mong Mao, where
the Shan chroniclers made that out to be the capital of the Shan
States generally. The Hsen Wi Chronicle claims that honour for
Hsen Sb or Hsen Wi. As a matter of fact, it seems very improba-
ble that there ever was one capital unless perhaps Tali-fu. Major
Hannay savs the people he converged with assigned " the south-west
"corner ol the province of Yunnan as the seat of the Empire
" (of the P6ngs), and the capital Kai Khao Mau Loung was said
" to have been situated on the Shweli river, or Lung-shu6 of the
" Chinese (the present Chinese name is Lung Kiang), which falls
" into the Irrawaddy in latitude 24** north." Mr. Elias identifies
this Ka-kao, or Ma-kao Mung-lung with Mong Mao, but as a
matter of fact it is simply Mong Hkao (the old city), Mong Long
(the great city or country).
33
flS8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
Into the subject of the origin of the P6ng nation Major Pember-
ton does not enter, but alludes briefly to the traditional accounts
given of themselves by the Ahoms to Dr. Francis Buchanan Hamil-
ton in the early years of this century, a people whom he rightly
reg'arded as springing from a common origin with the inhabitants
of P6ng. Dr. Buchanan Hamilton's original writings are much scat-
tered and difficult of access, but an apparently full prfecis of his re-
port on .^ssam is given by Montgomery Martin I Eastern India iii,
600 et seq.), from which the following account is epitomized : —
" Many years ago two brothers called Kliunlat ard Khuntai descended
from heaven and alighted on a hill named Chorai Korong. situated in the
Fatkoi range, south from Gorgango, the ancient capital of Assam. Kbua-
lai taking witl\ htm some attendants and the god Cheng (Seng, the image
of one of his female ancestors) went towards the south-cast and took pos-
session of a country called Nnra [this is also called Tai LAng (or^at Shans)
and was called by their neighbours of Kasi or Moilay {i.e., Manipor) the
Kingdom of P6ng], which his descendants continue to govern. Hkuntai
remained in the vicinily of the hill Chorai Korong and kept tit his posses-
sion the god Chung (Sung, the image of one of his mate ancestor^}, who is
still considered by his descendaals as their tutelary deity. IJr. Uuchinan
believes the ' heaven ' to mean some part of Thibet bordering on China,
but the original word, whatever it may have been, he continues, has, since
the conversion of Khuntai's descendants to !irahmanism, been translated
sroorgo (heaven) *t * « Xhe original territory occupied by Khun-
tai included two very long islands formed by branches of the Brahma-
putra, together with some oT the lands adjacent on both banks of that great
river. The names of thirteen princes in regular succession from father to
son are given, but no dates or indications from which dates could be infer-
red."
Here there is a sufficient general resemblance in the general
story of Khun Lu and Khun Lai to establish a common ori^n,
though names and details differ. Francis Gamier obtained a* simi-
lar tradition of the origin of the Lao race along the Mekh»ng ; in
fact it would appear that each separate section of the Tai race,
thoui^h they acknowledge in a general way a common origin and
have a common legend, place the scene both of the origin and the
fable in their own particular region. Carnier's story, told in the
Voyage d^ Exploration, &c., i, 473 is that, after a god called Phya
Then had created the heavens and the earth, there were three
princes, named respectively Lao-seun, Khun Khet, and Khon Khan,
who founded kingdoms {ties muongs) and who were exhorted by
Phya Then to live in peace and to honour the spirits of the dead.
He was not obeyed, however, and after punishing the inhabitants of
the earth with a deluge (this also appears in the Kcng TQng his-
tory), in which ^eat numbers were drowned, the survivors begged
for mercy and Phya Then sent them Phya Kun Borom to govern
them and Phya Pitse Nu-kan {le grand arckiiecte dtt del) to spread
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES ANU THE TAI.
259
abundance in the land. Kun Borom founded Muong Then in Tong
King (perhaps this is the Muong Theng first occupied in 1887 by
the French). Ho had seven sons, who founded various kingdoms
as follows 1^—
(r) Kun Lang, who founded Muong Choa.
(2) Kun Falang, who founded Muong Ho (this is the name the
Lao Shans giv* to the Yiinnanese: Muang HawJ.
(3) Kun Chon-soung, who founded Muong Keo, or Annam.
(4) Kun Sai-fong, the founder of Muong Zuon (r.ff., Mong Y6n-
Chiengmaij.
(5) Ngou-en, who founded either Muong Poueun (perhaps the
present Muang Phuen north of Luang Prabang) or Ayuthia, i.e,,
Siam.
(6) Kun Lo-koung, who founded Muong Phong or Muong Sai-
koun (Saigon).
(7) Kun Chclcheun, who founded Muong Kham Kheut Kham
Muong or Muong Poueun.
Here again appears a suggestion of the common Tai folks-myth
slightly varied by the different branches of the race, while each
branch applies it to the country which it knows. The most singular
fact about the Shans, however, is iliat the one settlement which has
maintained its independence as a kingdom and has become civilized
beyond all the others, the Kingdom of Siam, should contribute ab-
solutely nothing towards tracing the origin of the race. So far as
appears, the Siamese have no history worthy of the name earlier
than the founding of their first national capital, Ayuthia, towards
the beginning of the fourteenth century of our era, and " the best
'* authorities believe the Siamese to have migrated, only shortly be-
" fore the founding of Ayulhia, from the hill country towards the
" north and to have displaced the aboriginal Karens, by whom the
" country now called Siam was inhabited."
With regard to the name of P6ng there can be little doubt that
it is merely the Manipuri appellation for the whole of the once
united Shan States of L'pper Burma and Western Yunnan. The
name is not known to the Shans themselves any more than it is to
the Burmese, the Chinese, or the Kachins. There can be little
doubt that it was the mediaeval Shan Kingdom called by the Chinese
Nan-chao, which is the Carajan of Ser Marco Polo, while the second
chief city called by the same name is doubtless Tali-fu. This
Kingdom of Nan-cnao had existed in Yunnan since 738, and pro-
bably had embraced ihe upper part of the Irrawaddy valley, for the
Chinese tell us it was also called Maung, and it probably was iden-
26o
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
tical with the Mung Maorong of Captain Pemberton. The city of
Tali was taken by Kublai in 1254. The circumstance that it was
known to the invaders (as appears from Polo's statement; by the
name of the province, is an indication of the fact that it was the
capital of Carajan before the conquest.
We may now proceed to consider the evidence collected by Mr.
The Kingdom of E. H. Parker as to the earlier* history of the
Nan-ehao. Shans. What follows is taken from his book,
Burma with special reference to her relations "with China, and
from a mass of translations which he has made of the Chinese an-
nals of various border States,
Mr. Parker says, quoting chiefly the annals of the Chinese dy-
nasty of T'ang, a book a thousand years old :—
'' The Chinese had clearly defined relations with the Shan or Ailao Em-
pire of (modern) Tali-fu In the first century of our era, and in A, D. 90
(elsewhere the date A. D. 97 is given) one Yung Yu. King of T'an, sent
tribute to China through the good oltices of the Aiiao, receiving an olBcial
seal from China. The Chinese seem to take it for granted that Yung Yu
of T'an was of the same race as a later Pyfi (Burmese) King named Yung
K'iang."
[Since, however, they transformed Aungzeya, the assumed name
of Alaungpaya, into Yung Tsihya and connected him with the
same Vung " family," the coimecting link is of practically no value.
In any case, Mr. Parker thinks that the T'an State really lay much
farther west than Burma and was only originally known to China
because its envoys approached China through Burma and Yiinnan.]
Mr. Parker continues —
*' The Ailaos were next calird Nan-chao when they re-appcared upon
the Chinese political stage. There can be no question 01 identification, for
the Aniiamese stUl call the Laos of Upper Siam by the name Aiiao, and
the Chinese tell us that Nan-chao was the ' southern ' or JVan of the six
C/iao or 'princes,' adding that C/iao was a barbarian word for prince,"
[It is so still in Siamese and I-ao Shan, The British Shan form is Sao].
" Nan-chao we are toid bordered on Magadha, which quite explains how the
Kshatriya princes could find their way by at least one route to Burma.
To the south-west were tlie t*iao (still proiiuuticed Pyu in Cantonese,
which is the best Chinese rcpresetitalive dialect). During the 8th century
the T'upo (usually now called T'ufan) or Thibetans "itruggled with China
for mastery over Nan-chao and the Nan-chao King Kolofung annexed both
the Pyu and also part of Assam. It is from this time only that trustworthy
Burmese history can be said to begin, just as genuine Japanese history be-
gins in the fourth or fifth century, when relations with China had become
constant. From this period India may be said to disappear as a political
factor from Burmese history.'*
But even earlier than this the Chinese had come into contact
with the Shans and Burmese. One hundred years before the Chris-
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAl.
261
tian era, the Chinese Han Emperor, Wu Ti, sent an expedition to
Tien (which Mr. Parker notes is a name still applied to Yunnan
in the literary style). It may be assumed that the King of Tien
was a Shan. His capital was at Peh-ngai, and this was an im-
portant Shan centre 800 years later. At any rate the King of Tien
became an ally of the Chinese, and joined them in suppressing the
K'uu-ming tribe. This name K'un-ming is still applied to a lake
near Yiinnan-fu. Mr. Parker is of opinion that the name of Wu
Ti, or Imperator martialis, is the origin of the name Uti or Udibwa
applied by the Burmese in official correspondence to the Emperor
bi China. This Emperor left a name in China not inferior to that
of Cssar in Europe.
It appears to be certain that about A. D. 50 the Ailao king
Hien-lih, while engaged in warlike operations against a neighbour-
ing tribe, trespassed upon Chinese territory. He was attacked and
with all his band, estimated at about 18,000, became tributary to
China. After this numerous other chiefs of neighbouring tiibes sub-
mitted with their people and together made up a population of about
half a million, who were grouped together to form the prefecture of
Yung-ch'ang. One of the first Chinese Governors of Yung-ch'ang
entered into a treaty with the Ailao, according to which each male
had to pay a tribute of a measure of salt and two garments, " with
a hole in them for the head to go through." Later Governors did
not retain their hold and there were numerous frontier wars with
China. There seems reason to believe that, at this time, the Bur-
mese or Pyu, as distinguished from the Talaings or Mon, were
more or less under the power, or influence of the Shans, or at any
rate were connected with them in some way, and therefore it is
possible that the King of T'an, Yung Yu, who sent tribute to
China in A. D. 97, and received an official seal, was a King of the
I3urmesc. But since " it is perfectly clear from Chinese history
" that adventurers from India founded kingdoms in Java, Malaya,
" Camboja, and Ciampa, and it is also clear that envoys or mer-
" chants from Alexandria, or some other Roman port, visited China
*' in A. D. 166," it seems unnecessary to insist upon the identity
of T'an with Burma. The envoys of Marcus Aurelius reached
China by way of Ciampa, then known as Jlh-nan, but more an-
ciently known as Yiieh'shang, which the Chinese confuse with Mien-
tien, a quite modern name for Burma. The Roman emissaries or
merchants called their country Ta-ts'in, and Ta-ts'in conquerors
went to China with Yung Yu's envoys previous to the visit of the
Ta-ts'in envoys to China through Jih-nan. Hence probably the
confusion. The presents of these envoys were called tribute ac-
cording to the engaging Chinese habit and T'an may as well have
262
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. Vt.
been Alexandria as Burma. The envoys may be supposed to have
landed in the Talaing Kingdom and lo have marched from Moul-
mein through Chlengmar and Chieng Khoni;" to Muang Theng or
Laichao and so on to Vinh on the coast of Annam. Mr. Parker,
from whose account this is condensed or adapted, continues : " China
" was shortly afterwards (A. D, 220; split up into three empires, one
*' of which was Sieng-pi Tartar (a Tungusic dynasty akm to the
" modern Manchus). Accordingly the Ailao drop out of sight for
"some centuries, until at last the powerfuT Chinese dynasty of
" T'ang consolidates the empire into one cohesive whole again.
" But the celebrated Chu-koh Liang, a general serving one of these
" three great empires, which was practically the modern Sz-ch'wan,
" did a great deal of solid work in Yunnan When I entered the
" first gorge of Sz-ch'wan, 10 years ago, I found that stories about
" Chu-koh Liung were repealed as if he had lived only a hundred
" years ago. If my memory does not fail me, a town not far from
" Momien (Teng-yiieh) was, and perhaps is, known to tradition as
" the city of Chu-koh Liang. He died in A. D. 232 and the 'in-
" 'vasion of the Chinese,' under the third king of the old Pagan
" dynasty, mentioned by Captain C. J. F. S. Forbes, doubtless
" refers to him. For 400 years after this there is a complete blank.
" The Ailao have now (A. D. 650) become the Nan-chao."
The Nan-chao Empire was extensive. It touched Magadha on
the west, so that the relations of both the Burmese and Shans with
India, which are referred to by the late Captain Forbes and rejected
by him as too traditional for belief, may very nell have been true
and would be worthy of credit, if they were recounted in a less le-
gendary form. On the north-west Nan-chao reached Thibet, from
which kingdom the Burmese are assumed to have come. To the
south was the " Female Prince State, " a name then applied lo Cam-
boja, whose queen married an Indian adventurer. The occurrence
of female rulers among the Shans is, however, far from uncommon,
though when the lady entered into a formal alliance she usually
yielded direct authority to her husband. It was otherwise when she
contented herself with mere butterfly connections. On the south-
east of Nan-chao were the Tongkinese and Annamese, then called by
the Chinese Kiao-chi, "splay toes," a name which implies that
Chinamen wore shoes and the Tongkinese did not, though it does
not explain why the Tongkinese should have received the nickname
to the exclusion of all other races which went barefoot. To the
south-west were the P'iau (the Piu of the Cantonese), that is to say,
the Burmese. The T'ang Dynasty Annals give no boundaries to
the north or north-east, presumably because the Nan-chao Empire
was considered a part of China. There were two chief towTis, one at/
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATKS AND THE TAI.
263
or near, ihe modern Tali-fu, the other somewhere near the modern
Yune^-ch'ang-fu.
*' The Nan-chao Empire seems to have been highly organized.
" There were Ministers of State, censors, or examiners, generals,
'' record officers, chamberlains, judges, treasurers, sediles, ministL-rs
*' of commerce, &c., and the native word for each department is
" given as shwatig.'^ Tliis may or may not be a Chinese perver-
sion of the Shan /fsiittg, or f/seti, officials whose duties now-a-days
are provincial rather than metropolitan. " Minor officers managed
" the granaries, stables, taxes, &c., and the military or^;anization was
*' by tens, centurions, chiliarchs, deka-chiliarchs, and soon. Mili-
** tary service was compulsory for all able-bodied men, who drew
" lots for each levy. Each soldier was supplied with a leather coat
*' and a pair of trousers. There were four distinct army corps or
" divisions, each having its own standard. The king's body-guard
*' were called Chu-nu katsa, and we are told that katsa or katsii
" meant leather belt. The men wore chuti, helmets, and carried
" shields of rhinosceros hide. The centurions were called Lo-(sa-
" tss." These names, if they really were Shun and not Chinese in-
ventions, have been lost since the Shans ceased to be a conquering
power. " Land was apportioned to each family according to rank :
" superior officials received forty shwang or acres (the tone of this
" word being unlike the tone of the first-mentioned word shuan^).
" Some of the best cavalry soldiers were of the Waug-tsa tribe, west
" of the Mfekhong. The women of this tribe fought too, and the
" helmets of the Wang-tsa were studded with cowries." Mr. Parker
thinks these may have been the VVa, but this can hardly be. The
modern \Va have nn ponies and look upon ihem as highly dangerous
animals. The Shans and the hill tribes generally are as poor horse-
men now as the Gurkha is.
" There were six metropolitan departments and six provincial
" viceroys in Nan-chao. The barbarian word for department was
" kien." This is obviously the keng of present times, which in
Lao Shan and Siamese becomes chieng and along the Mfekhong is
frequently pronounced, and sometimes written, sieng, whence the
French form xiettg. The Burmese transformed it into kyning.
The forms kaing and kiang are freaks of the British military oih-
cer and of railway promoters. The word may be compared with
the \Va ken, meaning a circle, or community of villages under one
chief, as in lien Tail and Wa Pet Ken, beyond the Nam Hka 1 he
term is also used in Kokang in the circles of Ken Pwi and Ken
Fan.
" It is unnecessary to enumerate all the Nan-chao departments;
*' but it is interesting to note: Peh-ngai, the capital of the King
264
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP, Vf.
" of Tien, Yunnan ; Mfing-she, (he ancient seat of the M^ng family
" of Nan-chao rulers [this is doubtless the modem Mangshih, called
" by the Shans Mong Hkawn ; the term ' Mt^ng family' is due to
" the wooden-headed Chinese persistency in ascribing clan names
" to the Shans, which induces them to transform the title Sao
*' into Sz or Su and call it a family name. M^ng is doubtless the
" Shan Mong, a State or fortified town] ; and Tai-ho (Tali-fu)."
" The people were acquainted with the arts of weaving cotton
" and rearing silk-worms : in some parts — the west of the country —
" there was considerable malaria, and the salt-wells of K'unming
" or modern Yunnan-fu were free to the people. West of Yung-
" ch'ang a mulberry grew, the wood of which was suitable for
" making bowls, and gold was found in manyparts, both in the sands
*'and in the mountains West of Momien (T't^ng-Yueh) the race of
'* horses was particularly good " (probably Tawng Peng Loi L6ng
is meant).
" When the King sallied forth, eight white-scallopped standards
" of greyish purple were carried before him; two feather fans, a
" chowry, an axe, and a parasol of king-lishers* feathers having a
"red bag. The Queen-mother's standards were scallopped with
"brown instead of white. She was cidled Sin Afo or Kiwrno, and
"the Queen-wife was called Tsin-wu" ("the chief wife of a Sawbwa
"of the present day is called the Maha Dewi)."
As a special mark of honour, the chief dignitaries wore a kimpo/o,
or tiger-skin, which suggests the modem t/ia-mwe htggyi or fur
coat, formerly only worn by officials. The women's hair was
gathered into two locks and plaited into a chignon : their ears were
ornamented with pearls, green-stone, and amber. Female morals
were easy previous to marriage, but after marriage death was the
penalty of adultery. It took three Nan-chao men to drive an ox-
piough : one led, one drove, and the third poked up the animal.
All ranks, even the nobles, engaged in this leisurely agricultural
work. There were no corvtes^ but each man paid a tax of two
measures of rice a year.
The history of the Chinese dynasty of T'ang gives a list of the
kings of what it calls the Royal Family of Mt^ng. The record of
these is complete after about the beginning of the seventh century
of our era. From this list Mr. Parker developes a curious theory
that "each son takes as the first syllable of his own name the
" last of his father's." Thus Tuh-lo is succeeded by Lo-sheng-
yen, and he by Yen-koh. This idea of hereditary syllables seems
to be purely fanciful, or an invention of the Chinese mind, devoted
to ancesLral worship. In mod«rn days the Shan takes his name
on much the same system as the Burman, without any reference to
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
265
the name of his father, and in any case the Sawbwas are always
known by a title, assumed after their accession. This has no con-
nection with ihijir birth name, and to use the latter is, with the
Shans, as it is among all the other Indo-Chinese races, if not a
crime, at any rate an insult.
The names given arc so disguised as to be almost beyond recog-
nition ; much as Symes called a Myosaye a Me-wjerry and another
writer playfully converts Upa-raza into Upper Rodger. However
that may be, it is recorded that towards the. middle of the eighth
century King Koh-lo-feng made T'ai-ho (Tali-fu) his residence ;
Tai-lio mtians great peace in Chinese, and it may thus be compared
with Yan Gon (Rangoon).' The further statement of the Chinese
Chronicles that the Shan word for " peace " is Shan-po-t'o, and that
this name was adopted after a successful war, gives one pause.
The whole of the names are a sort of missing word puzzle and very
much of an y^lia itElia crispts riddle character.
Koh-lo-f6ng received a title from China and succeeded to his
adopted father's throne in A.D. 748. A war with China now took
place, owing to the imprudent behaviour of a neighbouring Chinese
Governor, and the result was that Koh-lo-fi^ng styled his kingdom
the Great Mt^ng Empire, and threw in his lot with the Thibetans,
who conferred upon him a seal and the title of btsanpo-chung,
or " Younger brother Gialbo," i.e., ruler equal to the ruler of Thibet,
hut ranking slightly after him. Koh-lo-ftng caused a marble
slab to be engraved with the reasons which drove him lo revolt, and
this tablet M. Emile Rocher says, in his History of Yiinnan, is still
pointed out in the suburbs of Tali-fu. He does not mention
whether it is in Shan or Chinese character, or indeed whether he
actually saw it, and it is mentioned by no one else.
China was in dtflficultios with the Turks at this period, and Koh-
lo-f^ng took advantage of the opportunity to annex parts of the
Empire, besides the land of the Pyu, the Burmese, and thatof Sun-
chwan, which would appear to have been an Assamese tribe. It
is noted that polyandry existed among the people to the west of
them. These tribes lived in cage-like houses, were scattered about
without any central authority, clothed themselves with bark, and
practised no agriculture.
The Chinese made several attempts to subdue Koh-lo-f^ng, but
met with successive defeats on the Hsi-^rh river, and on his death
he was succeeded by his grandson I-mou-hsiin, whose mother
belonged to the Tuhkin race of savages. I-mou'hsiin, however,
had been taught by a Chinese literate Ch'eng-hui and was a man
of some education. He found the Thibetans very troublesome and
34
366
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER, [CHAP. VI.
inclined rather to be task-masters than allies. They established
ganisons at all important points, levied men to fight their wars,
and taxed the country very heavily. He, therefore, listened all the
more readily to the advice of Ch'eng-hul and opened up com-
munications with We Kao, the Chinese Governor of Ch'eng-tu, the
capital of the modern Sz-ch'wan province. A letter was sent to
Wei Kao, in which I-mou-hsiin Complained of the tyranny of the
Thibetan Blon or Governors and explained how it was that his
grandfather had been really forced by ill treatment to abandon
China. He wound up the letter by suggesting that the Ouighour
Turks should be directed to join him and China in an expedition
against Thibet.
At that time the Ouighours. through whom the modern Mongols
and Manchus derived their letters, were in occupation of parts of the
modem Kan-suh Province, wiih their capital at the present Urumtsi,
where they had (or a considerable length of time been under the
influence of the Nestorian Syrians. A Syriac stone still exists at
■ Si-an Fu in Shen-si Province, and Ouighour letters are probably
merely a form of Syriac.
The correspondence resulted in a treaty, four copies of which
were drawn up at the foot of thf snow-capped hill of Tien Ts'ang,
which dominates the modern Tali-fu. One copy was sent to the
Emperor of China, one was placed in the private royal temple,
one in the public stone temple, and one was sunk in the river. U
mou-hsun then put all the Thibetan officials in the kingdom to
death and their army was defeated in a great battle at the "Iron
bridge," possibly that over the Salween, in West Yunnan. The
Emperor then sent I-mou-hsun a gold seal recognizing him as
King of Nan-chao. The Chinese Envoy, Ts'ui Tsoshih, was re-
ceived at T'ai-ho with great pomp. Soldiers lined ** the roads and
"the horses' Iiarness was ablaze with gold and cowries. I-mou-
" hsiin wore a coat of gold mail and tiger-skin, and had twelve ele-
" phants drawn up in front of him : he kotowed to the ground,
" facing north, and swore everlasting fealty to China. Then followed
"a great banquet, at which some Turkish women presented by a
"former Emperor sang songs. Their hair was quite white, as
" they were the only two survivors of a once large musical troupe.'*
I-mou-hsiin now entered upon a career of conquest and, besides
uniting the six Shan principalities into one, annexed a number of
neighbouring States, some of whom are stated to have lived in raised
houses which suggests Upper Burma, while others varnished or gild-
ed their teeth, a statement which immediately recalls the Mongolian
Province which Ser Marco Polo visited four hundred years later.
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
267
I-moii-hsun sent his sons to be educated at Ch'6ng-tu Fuln Sz-ch'-
wan and became more and more bound to China. The Thibetans
were again defeated, and amongst the prisoners taken were a number
of Abbasside Arabs and Turkomans from Samarkand. About this
time a Corean General in Chinese employ had carried the Chinese
arms into Baiti and Cashmere, and the Abbasside caliphs had re-
gular relations with China, [t is, therefore, clear thai there were
Mahomedans in Tali-fu even before the time of Prince Kublai and
Nas'reddin.
(•moU'hsiin died in A.D. 808 and was succeeded by sons and
grandsons, who did no credit to their Chinese training. One of
them was killed by his own general, who aftertt'ards marched on
Ch'$ng-tu Ku and carried off a number of prisoners, among them
skilled artisans, who " placed Nan-chao on a par with China in
" matters of art, literature, and weaving,"
In 859 A.D. one Ts'iu Lung, who seems to have been a Shan
cfEcial rather than a member of the '* family of M6ng," became
ruler of Nan-chao, assumed the title of //'ivang-ii {Emperor), and
with an energy equal to his arrogance, declared war on China,
besieged Ch'eng-tu, and before he had to retire, left "eighty per
*' cent, of the inhabitants of certain towns in Sz-ch'wan with
** artificial noses and ears made of wood.*' He did not take
Ch'eng-tu Fu, but he conquered Chiao-chih (Kfe-sho, the modern
tHanoi) and overran Annain. But the war which he began, and
tis son and grandson continued, ruined Nan-chao, and in 936
A.D., after some ephemeral dynasties had ruled over what they
called the ^reat Ch*ang-ho State, the great T*ien-hing State,
and the great i-ning State, a Chinese official Twan Sz-p'ing,
who may have been semi-Shan, established himself as King of
Ta-li. Mr. Parker says *' this is the beginning of the tributary
"State of Ta-li. It must be mentioned, however, that China
"was again divided into two empires. First the Kitans and then
"the r^uchens (ancestors of the Manchus) ruled in the north,
" and the Sungs, with capital at Hangchow, ruled south of
"the Yangtsze. Hence we find that the Russians still call the
" Chinese Kitai, it being with the Kitan dynasty that they first
" had relations. Marco Polo's J/(7«.?/ is the Southern Empire of the
" Sungs, it being still the custom fur Northern Chinese to apply the
"term Man-lsz, or barbarians, to the Southern. This epithet no
" doubt dates from the time when the Shans, Annamese, Miao-tsz,
"&c., occupied nearly all South China, for it is essentially to the
" Indo-Chinese that the term Man-tsz belongs."
It seems certain that the Nan-chao Empire now split into two.
At any rate the country round Ta-li became more and more Chinese,
968
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
while the western portion, which is no doubt the Kingdom of Pong
of the Manipur Chronicle and of the list of his conquests made by
Anawra-hta, remained Shan and split up into a variety nf States,
possibly every now and again united under some energetic Saw'
bwa of one State or the other. Kublai conquered the la-Ii State
in 1254 and put an end to the Twan family. He put the King's
Ministers in charge with the title of Ssiian-fu-shih or pacificator,
and left to them the duty of subduing the neighbouring tribes.
This seems to be the origin of the similar titles now bestowed on the
Chinese-Shan Saivbroas. Mr, Park(;r says " This brings us to the
" period whence the history of the border Sarobwas begms. Even
*'now the southern portions of Yunnan are in part administered by
"Shan Sawbwas, ,0V by Chinese adventurers, who have become
" Shans in character. The centre of Slian power was slowly but
" surely driven south. As Captain Forbes very judiciously suggests,
" ' previously to the destruction of the Pagan monarchy in A.D. 1 284,
*' ' theTai race, of which the Shans form a branch, had been gradu-
*" ally forced out of their original seat in Yunnan by the advance
"'of the Chinese power under the great Rmperor Kublai Khan.
*' ' It was about this time that a portion of the race formed the King-
" * dom of Siam.* Dicu Van-tri, the Chief of the Muong Shans (of
" Tong King) is not a Shan, but a Canton Chinaman named Lo,
" who still iiolds the Ming seal, and has always rejected the over-
" tures of the Manchus. The name Dieu is simply the surname
" Tao given by the Chinese,"
Among the early pacificators or conciliators was the Ssuan-fu-
skill of Luhch'wan, which Mr. Parker thinks was "probably the
" Chinese name for the Shan Kingdom of P6ng, for many P6ng
"events and names described in the Manipur Chronicles tally, ex-
" cept as to date, with similar events and names described in the
*' Chinese Chronicles of Luh-ch'wan, which State then included the
" present Chinese 5"rfS'^a'rtships of Lung-ch'wan and M6ng Mao, at
"least, if not more. The only other Chinese protected Sawhwa'
"ship which dates from 1260 is that of Kan-ngai, or Kan-ngeh,
"as the Mongol history writes it. Both these States were sub-
" ordinate to the Mongol Military Governor of Kin-chi'ih, or
"'golden teeth/ generally and probably rightly considered to be
"the Zardandan of Marco Polo. The modern Burmese-protected
"Shan Sawhwashi^ of North Hscn Wi, called Muh-pang by the
"Chinese, also submitted to the Mongols, who passed through
" it on their road to attack Annam. It becomes a question whether
"the P6ng State of the Manipur Chronicle did not rather refer to
" Hsen Wi, which originally included Meng*mih or Mong Mit.
" Be that as it may, during Kublai's reign the whole of the Shan
" 5tfw^3i;aships included between Manipur and Annam were at least
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
969
"nominally subject to the Mongol dynasty of China." The
disintegration of the Shan Kingdom of Nan-chao open^^d up the
way to Hurma and led to the expeditions which resulted in the
overthrow of the Empire of Pagan by the Chinese. Mr. Parker
doubts whether the Mongols ever got to Pagan, srill less to Tar6p-
maw, but thinks it possible thai Shan nuxiliaries may have done so.
The Hsen Wi Chronicle, translated above, practically says that this
was the case.
The Shans were unable to hold their own against the Chinese or
were weary of the constant fighting in Nan-chao and so spread
south-east, south, and south-west. Thus were formed the various
Lac States, Luang Prabang, Nan, Chiengmai, and Ayuthia, the
capital of Siam itself, where Paliegoix places the commencement of
Shan domination or occupation in A.D. 1350, while In Burma the
Shans established Themselves at Pinya, Myinzaing, and Sagaing
in addition to the more northerly districts which had probably
always been within their territory. The Burmn, that is to say,
the country ruled by the Burmese of those days, was a petty State,
no more powerful than Pegu, or .'\s<;am, and certainly not to be
compared with the Nan-chau Kmpire. At the same time that the
three Shan usurpers displaced the Anawra-hta dynasty of Pagan,
another Shan adventurer named Magadu from Chiengmai established
himself at Martaban as King VVareru of Pegu, and this Wareru dy-
nasty maintained itself from A.D. 1287 to 1540. It had no re-
lations whatever with China, but seems to have been tributary to
the Shans of Ayuthta, that is, to the Siamese. This no doubt ac-
counts for the statement in the Hsen VVi Chronicle that Maw-la-
myeng was a tribuiar}^ State of the Shans of the north.
Mr. Parker says " the Shan or Thai race was thus in the thir-
*' teenth centur)' supreme in Siam, and nearly all over Burma, ex-
" cept in Taungu, whither a large number of discontented Burmans
*' took refuge. The northernmost Shan States were at the same
" time, at least nominally, under the over-rule of the Mongols of
" China. A short paragraph in the history of the Chinese Ming
"dynasty (which succeeded the Mongol dynasty in 1368) says that
*' the Mongols ' appointed Comforters of Pangya and other places
"'in 1338, but withdrew ihem in 1342.' Doubtless this means that
"both the Panya and Sagaing houses accepted Mongol vassal
" titles for a short pciiod. Meantime what Colonel Phayre calls the
*' ' Mao Shan from Mogaung ' carried war into the Panya do-
" minions, and carried off the king (1364). Colonel Phayre also
"quotes from the 'Shan Chronicle discovered by Pemberton at
'" Manipur in 1835,* an event 'not noticed in Burmese history.
" 'About 133a a dispute arose between the King of Pong {so the
ifo
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
" ' Chief of Mogaung is termed) and the Governor of Yunnan. A
" ' Chinese or Mongol army invaded the country, and after a slrug-
"'gle of two years the capital of Mogaung was taken. The King
" ' Sungampha flud to Sagaing, and on demand was surrendered to
" 'the Emperor of China. The sons of Sungampha succeeded to their
" ' father's kingdom.' Here again we shall be able to show that
" Colonel Phayre has been misled by placing too much faith in thie
"Shan Chronicles. Not only does Burmese history not mention
"any such event at that date, but the Mongol history fails to nien-
" tion it too, though we have seen that the Mongols had officers
"stationed in Burma between 1338 and 1342. The fact is the
" Manipur Chronicle is exactly a century wrongand the whole story
"belongs to the period [432 — 1450. ' Sungampha, King of Mo-
" gaung ' was really Szjcn-fah, Sa'ivb-wa of Luh-ch'wan. The
"Chinese annals of Momien gives the whole storv most intelli-
"gibly. He attacked the^awia'rtships of Nantien, Kan-ngai, Mo-
" mien, and Lukiang, in consequence of the Chinese Ming Emperor
" having first deprived him of his Chinese vassal title for impro-
" perly fighting with Muh-pang (Hscn \Vi), and, having next placed
"Luh-ch'wan under the Chief of Mtng-yang (to which probably
" M^ng-kung or Mogaung then as afterwards found an appendage)
" Sz-jen-fah, i>., the Phra Sz-jen, thereupon took possession of
" Ming-yang. He apologized in 1443, but the Chinese declined to
"compromise and demanded hisextradition from Burma, This was
"granted in exchange for the promise that Meng Yang (Mohnyin)
** should be given to Burma."
Mr, Parker is certainly right as to the date. The mistake of
Colonel Phayre arose from the Shan custom of counting by cycles^
(explained above) instead of by era. But the whole story is told
by Ney Elias of Chau Ngan Pha of Mong Mao. We thus have a
comparison of names: Sungampha is Chau Ngan Pha or Sz-jen-
fah and the Hscn \Vi Chronicle makes him Sao or Hso Ngan
Hpa, while the Burmese call him Tho Ngan Bwa. Moreover, the
Kingdom of Pong would seem to be a convertible title for Mogaung,
for Mong Mao, or for Mr. Parker's Luh-ch'wan. The conclusion is
irresistible that the Kingdom of P6ng was a general title, like
Prester John, for whatever Shan State happened to be most power-
ful or most prominent for the moment. Where the original Kingdom
of Pong was ^unless it was Nan-chao) and where it had its capital
at any particular time can apparently only be ascertained by a
coileclion of all the histories of the greater Shan Stales when
these can be obtained. Mr. Parker practicallv admits this when
he says " the Pong State of the Manipur Chronicle was more
"probably Luh-ch'wan than Muh-pang, although Muh-pang
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
37 1
" (Hsen Wi), orMfingPang is to the ear the more suggestive name.
" Luh-ch'wan, however, is a purely Chinese designation, and it is
"quite possible that il, as well as what the Chinese call Muh-pang,
"was included in the region called P6ng by the Manipur Shans.
" At any rate the boundaries of the then Shan States were bewilder-
" ing and Icaleidoscopic in their changes. Su-ngam is plainly Ss-jen,
" the characteryVM having still the power Nyim or Ngiang in certain
" Chinese dialects. That fah means pbra {Hpa in Shan ; Btua in
''Burmese; as in Sao-hpa, 5(77ri7t'ff) is plain : firstly, because ihe
" Momien annals speak elsewhere of a Shan Satshwa arrogating to
" himself the title o\fah and, secondly, because other Chinese books
" speak of Sz-j^n, Sz-ki, and Sz-puh (which it may be noted in Shan
"would be Sao Ngan, Sao Hki, and Sao Pu) without adding the
" syllableyff// at all. Finally, Colonel Phayre tells the same story
"over again from the Burmese history under date 1444, where
"5z-j6n is called Tho Ngan Bwa, Sawbtoa of Mogaung (the
" Burmese th and the Shan hs, it may be remarked, are identical
"characters) and remarks in a note: 'The circumstances here
" ' recorded have some resemblance to the events of A.D. 1332-33.' "
If follows therefore that, while the history of the Shans remains
to be written, the history of Burma, as at present accepted, requires
a certain amount of emendation, and that Chinese contributions
imply such mental gymnastics that careful editing is required.
The reference of the Ming history to Mien-chung (Central or
Middle Burma) is particularly interesting, since it shows that the
Mien State of those times was a mere fragment of the old and
independent Mien dominions of Anawra-lita and that the Shans
were the dominant power. The *' Khun-mhaing-ngai Shan Chief
"of Un-Boung," whose name puzzles Mr. Parker so much, was
Hkun Mong Ngoi, of On Pawng. which was the old capital of the
modern State of Hsi Paw. Detalh will be found in the history of
Ong Pawng Hsi Paw. The only thing that is clear is that in the
hands of the Shan Chiefs the fragments of Burma changed rulers
in a ivay which can only be understood when more materials than
are at present available are gathered together and tabulated.
Mr. Parker has thrown much light on the history of the Shans
by his translations (rem the Chinese. If it be granted that these
annals have at least some of " the empty, anachronous, and bom-
"bastic pride*' with which he so sweepingly charges all Burmese
history and what Shan Chronicles are known, it may be possible to
construct a "less hazy and mangled account of the rise and pro-
"gress of Burma" than at present exists.
His conclusions may be accepted : " The Burma df the Pvu was
" at first under the tutelage of India, subject at times to the fitful
27a
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP, VI.
" military domination of the Shans. After a brief spurt of national
" g^oT under Anawia-hla (or Nawrat'a Menzaw as he is also called)
"and his grandson Alan£[sithu, the Burma of the Mien fell under
" the tutelage of China, subject again at times to the occasional
*' military domination of the Shans. A second spurt of patriotic
"life took place under Tabeng Shwe-t'i, the ' Brama King of
" Pegu,* who, though of Burmese race, was a product of Taungu,
"and was not of the ancient royal Burmese lineage, nor were ms
" successors legitimately born to him. Then followed depopulating
"wars between Peguans and Burmans, with Siam and the other
" Shan States, with Aracan, Manipur, &c., during which transition
" period civih'zation retrograded, and Europeans began to intervene.
"A third spurt was made by the Alompra family. Chinese in-
" fluence was gradually thrown off under the Emperor Tao-kwang,
"though it is true complimentary missions were sent in 181 1,
" 1820, 18.^0, 1833, 1834, and 1843 and British tutelage took its
" turn. Like the Chinese, who, with intervals of national dynasties
" under the families of Han, T'ang, and Ming, have passed haU
** their time under Tartar rule, or concurrently with it, so the Burmese,
"with intervals of glory under the Anawra'ta, Tabeng Shwe-t*i,
"and Alompra houses, have passed half their time under Shan
"rule, or concurrently with it. The neighbouring Hindoos,
" Annamese, Cingalese, Cambodians, &c., have been snuffed out of
"political existence in common with Burma, and the Shans or
" Pais, though weakened by distribution over China, Tong King,
" British Burma, &c.,are the only one of the competing races in the
"peninsula which has maintained, under the name we give them of
" Siamese, an independent political existence to the last."
All this can only be called a preparation for a history of the Tai
race. In British territory apparently no rerords exist. All have
been burnt. It is possible ihat really old histories may yet be
found in the Shan-Chinese Slates. Up to now all that can be con-
sidered to be established is that the Kingdoms of Nan-chao, Pong,
and Mong Mao Ldng are different names for the same empire and
that the Tai race came very near to being the predominant power
in the Further East.
The relationship of the Tai to the Chinese races seems un-
mistakeable and appears no less clearly from
their personal appearance and characteristics than
from I heir language. They have been closely
connected with the Chinese as neighbours and, at one time or
another, as rivals or subjects for many centuries ; but this does not
seem ennugli to accoutit for all the affinities which exist. The
research, which has not been long begun, points distinctly to the
Tai racial charac-
teristics.
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
373
fact that the Chinese and the Tai belong to a family of which the
Chinese are the most prominent representatives. Physical resem-
blances are most conspicuous among the Tai Hki, the Shan Chinese,
who are nearest to, and perhaps in, the home of the whole race,
but they are carried on through those of the Tai, who have been
most influenced by the Burmans, to the Lao and Lu, whom the
M6n races have affected, down to the Siamese who have been
modified by the Cambodians. Since the Mon and the Karen are
also nearer or farther relations, the greatest divergences should
appear among the Burmese Shans. But even among them type of
face, shape of eyes, and complexion all point to an affinity with China.
Mere similarities of words do not prove race descent, but they
help towards it. It is not enough to say that Afa both in Chinese
and Shan means horse, that p'ing and ping mean level, tsao and
sao early, liang and ling light as day, and that wan means
bowl in both languages, or that the Chinese chih is very like the
Shan word se for paper, and that kuan and hkun mean practically
the same thing, nor is the fact that six out of the ten primary
numerals in Tai and Chinese are very nearly the same, necessarily
conclusive. Nor is it enough to quote Monsieur Terrien when he
says that the proportion of the respective loan words between " the
Taic languages " and Mandarin or Standard Chinese reaches a total
of three hundred and twenty-five out of one thousand words which he
compared. But when we find that in addition to this the grammati-
cal structure of sentences in Chinese and in the Tai languages is
the same and quite different from that of Burmese and the Thibeto-
Burman languages generally, there is strong presumptive proof of
relationship. The place of the object of the verb and of the
possessive in Shan are identical with the Chinese instead of being
inverted as in Burmese. Moreover, the use of couplet words of
related meanings used together is characteristic both of Chinese
and of the Tai languages. In these phonetic couplets one word
has the dominant meaning and, as Dr. Cushing saySj the other
word seems to be a shadow word used for the sake of euphony.
Thus the Chinese say lu'dao for a road, and the Tai tang-ksin,
where /m and tang are the words with the inherent meaning. Dr.
Cushing*s opinion is that " these shadow words (in Shan) are pro-
" bably words emptieSof their ancient signification, for some of them
"are found to be in use in Chinese dialects, where they have the
*' same meaning as the substantial word in the Shan phonetic coup-
" let. Thus ka in Shan means ' to be shiny * and the phonetic
"couplet is ka-ki. In Shan ki has no apparent meaning, whereas
" in Chinese ki has the meaning ' to be shiny.' " When all these
points of similarity are taken into account, the conclusion that
35
m
t^i tto»ER B'UlCsiX GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V|.
Chinese and Tai are sister languages is irresistible. Whether
Karen and M6n-khmer will also turn out to have been derived front
the same common stock is not so clear, bat it seems very probable.
The country between Assam and China is the point from which
„. „^ __ a number of ereat rivers start southwards in paral-
The Shan country. • . . r . ■ i •
' lei courses, at hrst within a very narrow span
of longitude, and afterftards spreading out into a fan which covers
the country from the Yellow Sea to the Bay of Bengal. They all
ran in deep narrow rifts, and the ridges which separate them continue
to run southwards almost as far as the rivers themselves and in chains
almost as sharply defined as the river channels. These mountain
ranges widen out as the river valleys widen, and lose their height
as tributary streams break them up into herring-bone spines and
spurs, but they still preserve the same north and south direction,
though here and there they re-enter and form the series of flat-
bottomed valleys, or wide straths whicli make up the Shan States.
Of all the rivers the Salween most steadily presents its original
character and flows swiftly through a deep narrow gorge between
high ranges from its source till it reaches the plain land which it
has itself piled up over the sea in the course of ages.
It runs nearly through the centre of the British Shan States and
they are situated towards the fringe and nearly in the centre of the
fan, which has for its ribs the Brahmaputra, the Irrawaddy, the
Salween, the Mfekhong, and the Yang-tze. The Salween with its
mountain banks has always formed a serious barrier, so that the
branches of the Tai race on either side differ in dialect, in name, and
even in written character, but their general features differ no more
than the appearance of the country, which is simply a plateau rough-
ened by mountain chains splitting upland running into one anothef;
while still preserving their north and south tendency. The gen-
eral height of the plateau is between 2,000 and 3,000 feet, but
the cross ridges and the drainage cut it up into a series of val-
leys or plains, some long and narrow, some rounded like a cup'
some flattened like a saucer, some extensive enough to suggest the
Irrawaddy valley on a miniature scale. It is no doubt this physical
character of the country which has affected the national character
and has prevented the Tai from living at peace with one another
and uniting to resist the encroachment of ambitious neighbours,
It also made obvious and easy for the conqueror the old maxim
divide et impera^ the more so since the hills everywhere are in-
habited by various tribes all more or less wild,
The Tai are seldom found awav from the alluvial basins an(J do
not look upon themselves as a hill people at all. The larger plains
CHAP. VI.l
THE SHAK STATES AND THE TAl.
375
are intersected with irrigation canals, while in the smaller the
streams are diverted by dams into channels which water the slopes,
or bamboo wheels are used where die river-hanks are high and th6
extent of flat land justifies it. Everywhere the cultivation is more
careful and laborious than in Burma, and in many places cold sea-
son crops, such as tobacco and ground-nuts, are grown. The most
extensive rice-plains are those of Mong Nai, Lai Hka, Hsen Wi, and
"Vawnghwe, and there are many other States, where though the
area is smaller there is wet cultivation far beyond the needs of the
working capacity of the population.
In some parts, as in the Myelat, parts of Mong Nawng and Kehsi
Mansam and in South Hsen vVi State east of Loiling, comparatively
tdry uplands have been cultivated so regularly and for so many
[years that hardly a tree is to be seen except in the village enclo-
sures and about the religious buildings. Here, except in rare
fsirips along the banks of the streams, the cultivation is all dry,
what is called hai'm Shan and taungya in Burmese, and the same
hai cultivation is practised on the hill slopes. In such places,
though rice is usually the chief crop, cotton, various leguminous
crops, ground-nuts, and the like, are largely grown. Chillies, onions
and such products attract the attention ofsome districts, sugar-
cane, as in the Yawnghwe neighbourhood, of others, while the tobacco
of the Lang K6 valley in the Mawkmai State is celebrated through-
out the hills. In Loi L6ng Tawng Peng very little, but tea is grown,
and this is also the main cultivation of the Pet Kang district of
Kcng Tung and of a few circles elsewhere.
Everywhere there are large numbers of cattle, and it seems pro-
bable that some of the more easterly Cis-Salween States, wnere
there is much grazing country, will devote themselves more and
more to cattle-breeding. Buffaloes are chiefly used for agricultural
work and bullocks as transport animals. Some areas, such as the
Myelat, Kehsi Mansam, Tang Yan, and Mong Keng arc full of cara-
van traders, and they outnumber the agriculturists pure and simple,
but there are pack-bullock owners in all parts and agriculture is the
general industry. The manufacture of coarse paper from the bark,
and of pottery of al! kinds, whert: the soil is favourable, occupy the
inhabitants of whole districts here and there. Thus, though nee is
grown everywhere, it is very unequally distributed and there is con-
sequently a very considerable carrying trade within the limits of the
■Shan States themselves as well as with the plains of Burma. No
caravan is allowed to enter Loi L6ng Tawng Peng which does not
bring an amount of rice proportionate to the number of pack-bullocks
and, though the rule is not so strict in the tobacco-growing Lang
Kd valley, or in the paper manufacturing tracts of Keng Lon in
376
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
Mong Nai, motives of self-interest practically impose it upon the
caravan traders.
In the deep narrow valleys of tributaries of the Salireen there are
many orange groves. The most noted, however, are those of Kantu
L6ng {Kaaug)'i) in the Mawk Mai Siate, where the fruit has a size
and a flavour uneoualted not only in the Shan States, but in the most
famous groves of Senile, or Florida, or of China. Otherwise the
country is poor in fruit, though the mangoes of Mawk Mai are
almost equal to those of Mandalay. Peaches, plums, pears, cher-
ries, and apples grow wild, but they are seldom eatable and never
good. At heights of 3,500 feet and upwards raspberries grow
abundantly and, after a few showers of rain, will bear comparison
with those grown in English gardens. Blackberries are found, but
are verv woody. The walnuts in the Shan Slates mostly come
from China, but there is at least one large walnut forest in the Wa
States, on the western slope of Nawng Hkeo hill.
Much valuable timber exists in the forests of Karenni and in the
States of Mawk Mai, Kcng Tawng, Mong Pan, Lawk Sawk, Hsi Paw,
and in Mong Pu, but the teak has been worked in the most ruinous
way, so that in some places the forests are permanently mined and
in others the British occupation came barely in time to save them.
Most of the other timber is only used locally and cannot be export-
ed at a profit. Of forest produce stlck-lac is the chief. Cutch is
hardly boiled except on the western fringe bordering on Burma.
Since the British occupation the cultivation of potatoes has been
greatly extended and improved in the Southern Shan States and the
growth of wheat has been begun by Mr. Hlldebrand, As roads are
improved and extended and markets opened, both of these promise
to bring much money into the States. At present the cost of car-
riage hampers their development.
The great majority of the tribes on the hills only grow hill-rice
for their own eating, but some of them cultivate
Crop* of ihc hill cotton for export and all of them grow poppy.
Opium is not grown for sale, west of the Salween,
except on Loimaw in South Hsen VVi and a few other circles, but
east of the river the district of Kokang grows a very great deal and
enormous quantities are produced in the Wa States and among the
Northern La'hu. The wild Wa live chiefly on beans, the La'hu on
maize and buck-wheat, and the Mung on Indian-corn. Any rice
they grow is for the manufacture of liquor. In the more settled
parts the hillmen grow a good deal of cotton for export, but most
of them are content with growing enough of this, or of vegetables,
tobacco, or surplus opium to supply themselves with salt, beyond
which they want little from the outside world. None, except the
Chap, vi.] the shan states and the tai.
277
Kachins here and there, own pack cattle and they never go beyond
the local market at the foot of their hills and there frequently not
oftener than once in the month. A few of the nearer Kachins own
a pack bullock or two and travel considerable distances, but other-
wise none of the mountain people show trading instincts.
The Shans on the other hand are great traders, but usually only
_, , on a very petty scale, partly from want of capital
Shan trade. j i ■ n i ^-i •. *. i
and chiefly because until quite recent years the
roads were either very unsafe or were so burdened with tolls and
exactions that profit was nearly impossible. Since the pacification
of the country the volume of traffic has steadily increased and pro-
mises to become very considerable. Under native rule the Natteik
pass and the Hsum Hsai, Hsi Paw, Hsen Wi tracks were the chief
trade routes, but there were a number of other smaller passes used
all along the line of hills from Bharao to Toungoo. Many of these
were execrably bad, but they were used to avoid the extortions of
the Burmese officials. When the demands became very great on
one route it was disused for a season or two and the caravans went
some other way.
Since the opening of the railway to Mandalay and the construc-
tion of cart-roads from Meiktila to the headquarters of the Southern
Shan States and from Mandalay to Lashio, these Government roads
attract all but the purely local traffic, and are constantly used except
when the rains make them impassable. The chief exports are pickl-
ed and dry tea, bullocks, ponies, skins, horns, crude sugar, leaves
for cheroot wrappers, potatoes, lac, and a variety of fruit and other
miscellaneous articles. The imports are chiefly cotton and silk
piece-goods, yarn, twist, salt and salted-fish, betel-nuts, brass and
'Other metals, and earth-oil.
Caravans go down to the plains from all parts of the Cis-Salween
States. The country beyond that river is usually served by an en-
tirely different series — some belonging to the west, some to the east
of the Salween. The only caravans which go all the way through
are those of Chinamen and Hui Huij who use pack mules and
therefore go much faster and farther. Some of these are settled
in the Shan States at Pang Long, Loi Maw, Kehsl Mansam,
Na wng Wawn, and other places ; but the majority of them lie up for
the rains in different parts of Yunnan. Parties of konhap^ pedlars
or hucksters, go in larger or smaller companies, not only over all the
British Shan States, but to Nan, Hpr^, and other of the Siamese
Shan States, and at one time many went as far as Luang Prabang
(Mong Long Pa Wang). Latterly, however, French bureaucracy
has frightened them out of this. The trading instinct is very
ij8
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP- Vi-
Strong and will inevitably bring much more money into the country
than would be possible if the people were purely agricultural.
Coal has been found in many places in both the Southern and
„. J Northern Shan States, but as far as has yet been
ascertained most of the fields are of poor quality
and in fact it would appear rather to be lignite than coal. The
researches made as yet have been, however, rather superficial and
limited, and it is possible that when the Mandalay-Salween Railway
is opened, the Lashio and Nam Ma seams will be found to be more
valuable than at present is thought. Lead is worked in Maw Son
and Kyauk Tat in the Myelat and at many other places, notably
at Kat Maw near Takut. Silver is also abundant. Thq great
Bawdwingyi mines in Tawng Pen^ have been unworked for over a
generation, but there are very rich mines in the Nam Hka valley in
the Wa country and silver ornaments are universal and abundant
all over the hills. Gold is washed in very many streams, but so far
no specially rich deposits have been discovered. There are tour-
maline mines in Mong Long, but they are not formally worked, and
the rubies found there and in the Nam Mao (Shweh) are of poor
colour and size.
The great number of ruined cities and the wide extent of ground
Old T • t I which these covered show that at one time the
Shan States must have been very much more po-
pulous and more prosperous than they are now. The number of
them is partly accounted for by the Indo-Chinese habit of having
a new capital for every ruler of particular note or energy, or for a
new dynasty. A reference to the Hseii Wi Chronicle will show that
even in comparatively recent times the capital was frequently chang-
ed. But it is ihe oldest cities which were the largest in extent and the
most formidably defended. The situation of these seems to show
the line of Tai movement and the places which they held in the
days of their independence. Thus they are frequent in the North-
ern Shan States in many parts of Hscn Wi. It will suffice to men-
tion Sh Lan, Pang Hkam, Mong Si, Wing Sang, on which Mong
Yaw now stands, and Wing Hpai, where the ramparts, hundreds
of years old, were still strong enough to keep out the Hsi Paw
Sawb-wa^s robber bands in 1887. The line of them then rather
trends to the south-eastward. There are a few, but not so many,
in the Southern Shan States. Near the SaUveen the nature of the
country contracts them to mountain fastnesses rather than walled
cities, but towards the Mfekhong they again appear, some of them
in the depths of almost impenetrable jungle like Wing Kfe on
the Nam K6k, others hidden in seas of elephant grass like Chieng
CHAP. VI.] tHK Siikii STX-rkfe Xnij tkz tai. 279
Hsen, until, in the Siamese Shan States, they become as numerous
as they are in the neighbourhood of the Nam Niao.
There is nothing so tantalizing as the absolute ignorance of the
people as to everything but the names of these ancient cities, and
nothing that is so calculated to excite despair as to the possibility
of writing a history of the Tju. In the midst of a forest, which
might almost be called primeval, the traveller comes upon a
vallum, on which there are trees of 8, 12, 15 feet girth. Exami-
nation shows that it encloses a space from half a mile to a mile
and a half square and that round the outside runs a moat 15 feet
or more wide and 10 feet deep, but filled now with great forest
growth or cane-brake, instead of water. The mouldered rampart
IS 10 to 20 feet hif;h and must have taken thousands of men
years to build up. Yet now there is absolutely nothing inside it, but
blank jungle, unless other ridges show that there was an inner city,
or that the whole was divided into three compartments, as seems to
have frequently been the case. Here and there a tumulus suggests
that there may have been a brick building, a palace, or a pagoda,
or a refuge tower, but the pipul trees have strangled it and the
white-ants have covered it with earth. It is possible that some of
these may have been like the woodland fastnesses of the Cells, which
Caesar describes in Britain, designed to afford the people a retreat
and protection for themselves and their flocks in times of invasion,
but it seems more probable, in the absence of all reference to such
works, that they were really once cities. Nothing can be more
complete than the effacement of all trace of human dwellings in
Chieng Hsen and S^ Lan, which we know to have been powerful
capitals.
Some of these monuments to the vanity of human wishes have
not even names of their own now. Of others it is said that they
were Chinese cities, which we know from the business-like, if vain-
glorious, Chinese annals to be quite untrue. The Lao of the Sia-
mese Shan States are particularly fond of ascribing their erection to
the Lawa. The wild Wa are undeniably skilled in defensive forti-
fication of a kind, but it is of an entirely different character. The
commonest answer, however, is that the constructors were the nagas^
" Gorgons and hydras and chimaeras dire." Where the ruins are
not more than a couple of centuries old and are admittedly Tai, all
that one can learn is that they have not been inhabited for, say. fifty
generations, and that they were depopulated during the wars. As
the Burmese overran the country they took care to demolish the
walled cities, and practically the only one which remains in the Bri-
tish Shan Slates is that of K€ng Tiing, which is not very old and
id distinctly dilapidated.
aSo
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP. VI.
The S o u t hern
Shan States.
In what is for administrative purposes called the Southern Shan
States, Burmese suzerainty was enforced From a
much earlier date than in the Northern Shan States
charge. In fact it seems by no means impossible
that the M6n, or the Burmese, held the Southern Shan States
before there were any Tai there. All the Southern States,
where they have histories at all, refer to a time when ihey got
their Saivbwas from the north, mostly from Mon^ Mit, that is to say,
from some part or other of the Nam Mao Tai Kingdom. The con-
jecture may therefore be hazarded that the Tai only came to the
south to the States of Lai Hka, Mong Nai, Yawng Hwe, and so
forth after the Kingdom of Ta-li was broken up by Kublai Khan.
Their traditional histories all refer rather to visits in Sekya Hpaung-
daw, aerial barges and what not, of Pe^uan or Pagan Kings, than
to the Ilkun Lu and Hkun Lai, the Hfao-mongy and the like of the
Northern States- Where they have any history at all, the earlier
portion is all taken up with Burma rather than with the region we
know the Tai race came from, until the time when the Mao Shans, or
their tributaries, or offshoots, the Mogaung and Mohnyin Sawdwas,
conquered Upper Burma and ruled there as kings for a time. It is
precisely at this period that we find Saw 6was coming from the north
to the Southern States, Theuld families are said to have died out,
or intrigue at Ava imposed a new line, or there were matrimonial alli-
ances ; any sort of a tale is told except what seems possibly the true
one, that the Tai only came south in force at this time. This may be
only conjecture, but, if it is not the case, the singularity of the facts
will have to be proved by details which are not yet availatle. Who
were the aborigines of these Southern States if this theory is correct
is no less of a puzzle, but the balance of probability seems to be that
they were Karens. If further investigation proves that the Cambo-
dians, the Hka Muk, the Wa, Palaung, and cognate tribes are of the
Mon race which has been asserted, then this race may have been the
predecessors of the Tai. But it seems more probable that the
Karens were displaced by the Shans. The presence of the Red
Karens and the Taunglhu seems to point to this and especially
the conflicting traditions of the latter. The people of Thatdn in
Lower Burma relate that they came from a place of that name in
the hills. The Taunglhu of Hsa Htung (the Tai form of Thaton)
say they came from Tenasserim. Both may be right. The
Karens may have been driven south by the Talaing or Burraan
Kings and later may have rc-colonized their original home or rein-
forced the remnant that remained there.
However that may be, it is quite indisputable that the Kings of
Burma received tribute and controlled successions in the Southern
CHAP. VI.I THE SHAN STATES AND THl
aSi
Shan States long before they had any permanent control in Hsen
Wi, where their first exercise of authority was no earlier than
A. D. 1604 or 1605, when the Mao Shan Kingdom came lo an end.
From that lime ihe Tai were never free from Burman interference,
however little the suzerainty may have been ac-
n B c a y irf Siian knowledged in the remoter States to be of prac-
'*'*^*^* tical effect. In the Southern States it very soon
became an active and oppressive reality, dwindling gradually to the
eastward and to the north-east, but for manv years constantly
creeping on, notwithstanding the enterprise of the Chinese from the
other side. In these three centuries at any rate, the power and
prosperity of the Tai principalities steadily declined. They were
worn down not only by the aggression and rapacity of the Burmese
and Chinese, and by the intestine wars, in which there is abundant
proof that they always indulged, but by the advances of the Kachins.
Whether these hillmen were crushed out by the Chinese, or whether
over-population forced them to migrate, it is certain that for the last
two centuries they also have passed south-eastwards and have driven
the Tai from much territory between China Proper and Burma,
until Shan names of mountains, streams, and villages are the only
remaining witnesses of former occupation. The once powerful
States west of the Irrawaddy now only possess a mea^e and much
Burmanized population, while the border principalities to the east
from Hsum Hsai to Yawng Hwe, and in a lesser degree even to
Mong Nai, have suffered almost as much from the deliberate policy
of the Burmese Kings and have only survived because they had the
mass of their fellow-countrymen behind thorn-
No connected history of these two, or two and a half centuries
can be written because there was no cohesion or connection. What
details have survived must be picked out under the heads of the
various States. The Burmese policy was not by any means direct-
ed to maintain peace and quietness. The sons or brothers of the
ruling SawlfTvas v^tre always kept at the Avan Court, not only as
hostages for the good behaviour of the Chief of the State, but that
they might be reared under Bunnan Influence and withdrawn from
sympathy with those of their own race, so that when they in time
came to rule, their loyalty to the suzerain might be ensured ; more-
over, the policy was to foster feuds between the different Sawhwas^
and rival aspirants were left to settle their claims lo the succession
in a State by force of arms. The victorious claimant might be
confirmed as Sawtwa by Royal patent, but he would not be, unless
he was able to pay for it, and when the civil war was over, his forces
were too exhausted to permit him to resist Burman demands.
If a Chief seemed so prosperous that he might become impatient
36
389 THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [ CHAP VI.
of Burman control, conspiracies were fostered against him. Such
troubles were easily managed among a hot-tempered people, such
as most hillmen are. There was probably never a time when the
gates of the temple of Janus were closed, when there was peace in
all the Shan States. Consequently there were permanent bands of
marauders or dacoits, collected from all parts, who were always
ready to take the opportunity for indiscriminate plunder which the
disturbed condition of some State might offer. In this way it was
not uncommon for a prosperous and populous district to be utterly
deserted for a time owing to these internal troubles, and the State
of Hsen Wi, which till the middle of the century was the most
powerful of the States, is the most notable example. Besides all
this, or rather in consequence of all this, there were frequent, more
or less extensive, rebellions against the royal authority, Some of
these were soon put down. Some, like that in Hsen Wi, dragged
on for years. The extraordinary thing was, and it was pointed to
as the justification of the Burman policy, that other States always
willingly supplied armed contingents to suppress the rebel for the
time being. Such risings were always put down in the same way.
Towns and villages were ruthlessly burnt and everything portable
was carried off. It is little wonder therefore that the greatest of the
modern Shan capitals would hardly form a bazaar suburb to one of
the old walled cities.
The chief seat of Burmese administration m the Shan States was
Burmeae adminis- at Mong Nai and the title of the Burmese
traiive system. Resident was Bo'kmu Mintha, but he was
seldom, if ever, in permanent residence. Dr. Richardson, who visit-
ed the Shan States in 1837, gives the following account of the
system {Parliamentary Papers, 1869, under date in the Journal
aoth February): —
" Tlie Bokmoo Mengtha Meng Myat Boo (General Prince Mcng Myat
Boo, a half-brother of the King's son of a Shan Princess), the General who
commanded at Melaun during the late war, is, and has been since the
peace, governor of all the Shan countries from Mobie nominally, but really
from Molcmai, south, to the Chinese frontier, north, and from Nattike, the
top of the pass from the valley of the Irrawaddee, up to the Shan country,
west, to three days beyond the May Koong tBroad river), or great Cambo-
dia River, east. He himself generally resides In ,\va, but visits his Oov-
crnmcnt occasionally, in one of which visits he rode from Monay to Ava
in three days. His deputy, who constantly resides in Monay, leaving
as usual his family as pledges in Ava, is the Tsetkay Daughee, who has
several officers under him ; and there are nt the court of each of the other
Tsoboas two Tsetkays, also .ippointed from Ava. These Tsetkays, parti>
cularly the chief one, lord it ov»r the Tsoboas ; to him the chief 'authority
belongs and all the external relations of the country is committed; and
the royal orders are sent to Monay, from whence they arc forwarded by
CHAP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAt.
283
the Tsetkays; bnt the Monay Tsoboa has no authority to call any of the
others. The lesser Tsoboas have no Tsetkays and are looked upon as
merely Afyotsas."
The manners and pretensions of the Sikk^ are described under
the date February a2nd. —
" I sent the Shan interpreter and some of the most respectable of the
traders to notify our arrival to the Tsoboa or Tselkay Daughee and claim
protection from the raoh. They were stopped by the latter Chief,
nhose house was nearer us than the Tsodoa's, He qaestioned them 5n
the most arrogant manner as to who they were, where from, and what they
wanted. They said they had been sent by me to the Tsoboa or himself
to notify my arrival ; told him who I was, and that I had a letter and presents
for the Tsoboa from the Commissioner of Moulmcin, by whom I had been
sent on a friendfy mission to open tbc gold and silver road trade. They also
explained to him that we were not aware of the existence of his appoint*
ment till we reached Mokmai, and at the same time begged that he would
send some one to keep the people from crowding on the tent, as they were
doing, with which request be at once complied and sent a Taungkmoo, and
some people armed with' rattans to drive them out; to the first part of the
message he replied that 1 should not see the Tsoboa until he was fully
informed of our errand, that we had no right to enter the Kingdom by this
road,, that Barney, as he called the Resident, was at the goldi^n footstool,
where we ought to have gone and begged permission before coming here.
In the evening a Seray, or Secretary, came out to my tent ; he mentioned to
the people outside, though not to me, that he had been sent by the Tsetkay,
He was dressed in a handsome and heavy fur jacket, with the hairy side
in, though the thermometer in the tent was about 86°. I discovered after*
wards that this was a sort of official dress with all the Government officers
here, though I should think anything but pleasant in tiiese latitudes. He
questioned me as to what 1 wanted here, and wished to know why I had
not brought letters to the Tsetkay, &c. 1 told him my visit was a dis-
interested one, for 1 wanted nothing but to open the gold and silver road
that the people here might exchange what they did not at present want
wilh our peoples for what they did, 10 get the protection of the Govern-
meni here for our people who might hereafter come on the same errand,
to assure them of the good feeling towards them at Moulmein, and to pro-
mise protection and facilities for traders to their people visiting it, &c. I
explained again the reason of my coming unprovided with letters to the
Tsetkay, Stc, by the fact of the Commissioner of Mouhnein not being aware
of the existence of such an officer, &c. My visitor had served in the late
war ; he had been a sort of Aide-de-camp to the old General of the Shans,
Maha Nay Myo, &r. ; had taken part in the affair at Wattigam, and bore a
part at Zirabike, when the old General was killed, with several of the Shan
Tsoboas and two of the three wives of the Laygea Tsoboa who, dressed in
male attire, were for some superstitious cause expected fo have done good
service against our troops at the seven stockades near Rangoon. The
Burmans suffered most severely here, ; the Shans, who had not engaged
us before, were not prepared to run away soon enough. He gave a sad
description of their sufferings from cholera and starvation for many days
after the storming of their stockades. His visit lasted about an hour and
984
THE UPPER BURMA GAZETTEER. [CHAP. V|.
a half. We parted scrcat friends and he continued daring my stay most
attentive and friendly."
The Sikk^ was, however, very much the reverse. He first insisted
that Dr. Richardson *' must, according to custom on visiting the
" Chief, first go to the Yeum-dau (the Lum, or court-house), where
'* there would be an assemblage of all the lesser Chiefs ; here taking
"off my shoes, I must wait til! Meng Nay Myo Yadza Nf)rata(the
" Secretary) should report my arrival to the Tsetkay at his own
" house, and return to conduct me there, from whence I should pro-
'* ceed to the Tsoboa's place." This Dr. Richardson refused to do
and said that in Ava " 1 had never taken off my shoes, but in the
" palace, the houses of the princes, and at the Hloat-dau^ where I sat
" side by side with the Woonghees" This demand was therefore
dropped, but when he went to the Lum the Sawb-wa was not there
and he *' was stopped outside the flank about a foot high {Coonfsen),
" which surrounds the central pillars of the Veum, and requested to
" seal myself there. Close to me were all my own people and the
" people of the town ; inside the flank before mentioned were the
" Tseikny Daugkee, Meng Myat Boo's representative (and Gover-
*' nor in his absence of all the Shan Stales) ; the royal Tsetkay, an
*' old man whom I took for the Tsoboa, two NakhanSy and two Bo-
" dha-ghees. Meng Nay Myo (the Secretary) seated himself by
" me." The Sikke then " commenced conversation in a most insuU-
" ing and overbearing strain, which he kept up during the whole
"interview. He told me I had trespassed in coming here without
" an order from Meng Myat Boo and the King, through Barney,
" the Resident," and continued to say much more that " was exceed-
ingly discourteous to use the mildest term." Dr. Richardson pro-
tested against this style of reception a day or two later through his
interpreter, and the St'kk^ moderated his tone " and told him that
" as they were situated here, a very few Burmans amongst a con-
" querea and distinct people, the customs were necessarily different
" from what they were in Ava ; that the Tsoboa, whom J should meet
" today, was never allowed to come inside the Coontsen • • •
" As the Tsoboa was to sit outside, of course I could make no
" further objections."
The Sawbtoa accordingly came '* with four gold chattahs and
" about 50 or 60 men armed with muskets, das, and spears, and
" a number carrying thanleafs. When the old gentleman came
" in I bowed to him, which he returned and seated himself close
" beside me. The morning was cold, and either from that cause
" or agitation he trembled considerably." When the letter was read
the Sawdwa said he had already heard of the contents ; that " he
" was the King of Ava's slave and afraid of rendering himself liable
TFI-AP. VI.] THE SHAN STATES AND THE TAI.
aSs
ic
** to punishment {yasawot) if he allowed me to proceed." Accord-
in^^ly Dr. Richardson was delayed considerably over a month in
M *15ng Nai. His relations with the officials and with the Sawbwa
foar^unately greatly improved in that lime. The latter is described
" ^m^ s a man of perhaps 68 years of age, of the common height
" <r:>l Burmans, fair even for a Shan, though those on this side of the
'• i==alween are much darker then to the eastward, notwithstanding
" t liat they are a few degrees farther north ; his manners are mild
" ^a.nd gentlemanly. • » • His boa or palace has a gilded roof
" «:>f five stories; the pyaihai or royal spire, surmounted by a hii
*' Cjhatiah) orgilded iron ornament so called ; the hall in which I was
received, about 40 feet square exclusive of a large verandah which
surrounds it ; the centre portion, a square of 30 feet, is raised
^bout 18 inches, with four rows ol pillars, which support the high
■~oof, three in each row and 10 feet apart ; the innermost four of
the two centre rows are gilded, and the Yasa Bolen (throne),
'^'hich is a very handsome one, is lower and of better proportions
than those of the Siamese Shan Tsoboas I have seen. The gold
^ippears burnished at the distance at which I sat, though the art
of burnishing is not known to the Burmans. At each side of the
throne stood a large white muslin umbrella, furled, with two rows
of gold plate attached to fringes near the outer edge ; on it were
a. small gold crown, a sceptre, a cho-ivree^ an ottar daun, and the
foval red velvet slippers, forming the five insignia of royalty
{A^fettg Hmeauk Yasa Ngaba). The only other furniture in the
Toora was a gilded chair and a common clumsy Burman bed-
j stead. There might be about 100 muskets ranged in different
'p'Si.rts of the hall."
Il3r. Richardson was told that at this time the Burman force
'n^imtained in the Shan States was about 10,000 men, that there
*^^^ 13 Sawb7vas, four of them beyond the Salween, and that the
Cot~*tingents they were expected to furnish to the Burmese Govem-
tnerit amounted to over 90,000 men. While he was still in Mong
N^ the Sawbwa was ordered to proceed to Ava in person with a
tboiisand men to aid in the suppression of Prince Tharrawaddi's re-
b^Mion, The State of Keng HQng was said to be the most popu-
\ous and that of Ilsen Wi the most extensive, The Sawbioaoi the
fatter State was murdered about this time, "beaten to death with
*' clubs by his Shan subjects at a f>oe, to which he had gone with
''a few followers. He was the son of the last Tsoboa (a perfect
"savage) by a Burman woman 
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